Radio-frequency enabled ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator for drug release application

This paper reports a radio-frequency controlled ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator for aqueous environment. The actuator can be activated through magnetic resonant coupling when the frequency of an external field is tuned to match with the resonant frequency (∼13.6 MHz) of the antenna of the planar receiver. A polydimethylsiloxane based drug reservoir, which has an IPMC actuator integrated, is developed. Under wireless activation, the IPMC actuator unseals the reservoir to initiate drug releases to the aqueous surroundings. The concentration of the released solution was experimentally characterized using a fluorescent microscope well plate reader with the release of the fluorescein dye from a 0.072 ml reservoir by wirelessly activating the actuator with an RF power of 0.65 W. In vitro study was further performed by wireless releases of tetracycline hydrochloride to an Escherichia-coli (E. coli) suspension. The reduction of E. coli colony formation from 89 × 106 to 35 × 106 CFU ml−1 shows that proof of concept on wireless drug delivery was successfully demonstrated.