The new wireless, battery-free photopharmacology protocol, based on the local and controlled release of light-activable drugs, proves its efficacy in pain treatment in animal models.

Photoactivable drugs are activated when irradiated by a beam of light — via an optical fibre — thus generating a controlled and local therapeutic effect on target tissues. Now, a scientific team has pioneered a new breakthrough in the field of photopharmacology with the design of the first wireless capable of remotely activating a phtoactivable drug and causing it to have therapeutic effects on specific organs.

This new device has demonstrated its efficacy in the treatment of pain in a study with a photosensitive molecule derived from morphine, one of the most widely used opioids because of its great analgesic capacity.

The study, carried out on animal models, opens up new perspectives for the design of safer, more effective and customizable analgesic treatments — especially in the context of chronic pain — without causing the adverse effects derived from the use of opioids (addiction, dependence, etc.).