Tumors have become one of the most difficult diseases to cure in humans, often requiring chemotherapy and using a large number of agents to fight the tumors. In the process, due to excessive medication and other reasons, it will bring great side effects, leading to nausea, fatigue, hair loss and ulcers.
On January 14, 2019, Antarctic Bear learned from foreign media that Steven Hetts, an interventional radiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and Nitash Balsara, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a way to Capture those excess drug molecules after passing through the target area. Their 3D printed "sponge" can absorb excess drug into the blood of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, reducing the side effects of treatment, while also allowing higher doses to fight more resistant tumors.
Balsara is a chemical engineer specializing in ionic polymers for batteries and fuel cells. "The absorber is a standard chemical engineering concept, and absorbents are used in petroleum refining to remove unwanted chemicals such as sulfur. Literally, we have adopted this concept from petroleum refining and It applies to chemotherapy. "
A 3D printed cylinder with an internal grid, coated with a polymer that absorbs the drug; the cylinder is inserted into a vein downstream of the target area, and when drug-carrying blood flows through the cylinder, the polymer binds to the drug molecules and filters the blood . Balsara elaborated, "Surgeons may put a wire into the blood and place a sponge in a stent, and then leave it for a period of time for chemotherapy, which may take several hours."
3D printing allowed the manufacture of custom cylinders whose dimensions could be adapted to the diameter and shape of the patient's veins, so 3D printing company Carbon Inc. consulted on the device. "Installing a 3D printed cylinder in a vein requires very high dimensions. If the fit is poor, blood containing the dissolved drug will flow through the cylinder without interacting with the absorbent," Balsara said.