Remotely Controlled Drugs

December 6, 2007

The only way for doctors to verify that cancer drugs are reaching a patient’s tumor is to scan patients after weeks of treatments to see if the tumor has shrunk. In the hopes of shortening this process, improving outcomes for cancer patients, and reducing the side effects of chemotherapy, MIT engineers are developing remote-controlled, multipurpose nanoparticles. These compounds act as both precise drug-delivery vehicles and contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (Technology Review)