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RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER and REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
in the blood
Professor Tony McHale, School of Biomedical Sciences, working with other scientists at Gendel Ltd, a University spin-out biotechnology company located on the University Science Research Park at Coleraine, has developed a method of loading red blood cells with a payload of drugs which can be released by a beam of ultrasound when they hit the target diseased tissue.
As well as targeting diseased areas precisely, the new technology minimises debilitating side effects, making it invaluable in the fight against diseases where highly toxic medications are used.
Delivery mechanisms
Red blood cells have been tried as drug delivery mechanisms before, with
only limited success. There have been difficulties in delivering the
payload of drugs to exactly the right place in the body. Professor McHale
and the Gendel scientists believe they have overcome this problem. They
discovered that red cells can be sensitised so that they burst open when
exposed to ultrasound. A beam is focused on the tissue where the drug is
needed and red cells loaded with the drug are injected into the
bloodstream. When the cells reach the tissue underneath the beam they
burst, releasing the drug directly into the diseased area. Professor
McHale said:
“It is a tremendous improvement over existing techniques for loading
drugs. The red blood cells pass through the beam and accumulate enough
energy to break open. This technology means that we can determine when and
where the cells deliver their load of medicines, enabling us to target
diseased or infected tissue with great accuracy.”
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