An image-guided, highly tunable hydrogel delivery device for novel minimally invasive therapies

Minimally invasive treatments have greatly changed the clinical landscape for a variety of disorders. A catheter is navigated through the body to the target site where a multitude of interventions can be performed, including drug delivery and therapeutic embolization and in the near future delivery of tissue-engineered constructs. However, there are still limitations for treatment safety and efficacy due to the less direct control physicians have over the diseased site compared to traditional surgeries.
We have engineered a new type of catheter device capable of accurately delivering and monitoring hydrogels in various parts of the body. Hydrogels are a common material class considered safe to be used as a vehicle for various therapeutic agents but are difficult to optimally formulate. In this project we aim to perform design refinement and testing to prove our technology’s efficacy both in vitro and in vivo. This new technology represents a safer and more effective method of embolization, drug delivery and potential for minimally invasive tissue engineering approaches.

Faculty Supervisor:

Victor XD Yang;Victor Yang

Student:

Yuta Dobashi

Partner:

Incubate Innovate Network of Canada

Discipline:

Medicine

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Program: