A Controlled-Release Drug Delivery System on a Chip Using Electrolysis

A system-on-a-chip (SOC) with integrated drug reservoirs for drug delivery is proposed. Electrolysis is used to generate microbubbles, which are employed as a force to open the reservoirs and release the drug. Wireless components, including an on/off keying receiver, microcontrol unit, regulator, clock divider, and power-on reset, are integrated for remote drug activation. The proposed microchip is fabricated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 0.35-μm CMOS technology followed by post-IC processing. The total size is 2.48 mm
²
, and the power consumption is 7.57 mW. The in vitro experiment has proven the feasibility of the proposed drug delivery SOC.