Johns Hopkins researchers have devised a self-assembling cube-shaped perforated container, no larger than a dust speck, that could serve as a delivery system for medications and cell therapy.

The relatively inexpensive microcontainers can be mass-produced through a process that mixes electronic chip-making techniques with basic chemistry. Because of their metallic nature, the cubic container’s location in the body could easily be tracked by magnetic resonance imaging.

The researchers are now refining the microdevices so that they have nanoporous surfaces for cell encapsulation in hormonal therapy. Biosensors could be mounted on these devices for non-invasive signal detection.

Source: Johns Hopkins news release