Introduction

Merylò is a microfluidic device that will work directly on the patients’ own blood at their point of care. By connecting the system directly to the patient circulatory system, a molecule (i.e a  chemotherapeutical drug) can me entrapped into the patient’s Red Blood Cells (RBCs), thus producing a new therapeutic alternative to these patients.

 

Technical features

The invention reports a unique and originally developed method for the entrapment of molecules in the erythrocytes, which can be re-inserted into the patient in their physiological state, thus releasing the drug over time, obtaining a sustained release. This treatment can decrease the toxic effect of the chemotherapy, thus reducing the adverse side effects. It consists of a single-use kit to be used in the standard chemotherapy practice, combining the selected drug with the patient blood, infusing the prescribed drug concentration at the same time. The core technology is a microfluidic device that is designed based on a bio-mechanical effect that was discovered at Politecnico di Milano. With respect to the competitors, this treatment is more gentle with the RBC membrane because no osmotic processes are used. This peculiar feature makes the device suitable to be used to insert other compounds (e.g. nanoparticles, tracers, etc.) into the erythrocytes directly at the patient bed side (point of care). In vitro and animal tests are on going and the device is under development by mErylò, spin-off of Politecnico di Milano (www.merylo.it)

Possible Applications

• Cancer therapy;
• Personalised medicine;
• Diffuse Large B Cells lymphona treatment.

Advantages

• Production of new therapies;
• Reduction of therapy side effects;
• Prolonged release in time;
• Reduction of hospital admissions;
• Low contamination risk.