{"id":607,"date":"2015-12-07T20:56:23","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T20:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reu.engr.uga.edu\/?p=607"},"modified":"2015-12-07T20:56:23","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T20:56:23","slug":"microfluidic-devices-for-intraocular-drug-delivery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reu.engr.uga.edu\/?p=607","title":{"rendered":"Microfluidic Devices for Intraocular Drug Delivery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Project Title<\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>Microfluidic devices for intraocular drug delivery<\/p>\n

Project Duration:\u00a0<\/u><\/strong>May 23\u00a0\u2013 July 29, 2016 (10 weeks), 40 hours\/week<\/span><\/p>\n

Project Mentors:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Primary Mentor<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hitesh Handa, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/p>\n

College of Engineering<\/p>\n

University of Georgia
\nPhone: 706-542-8109<\/p>\n

Email: hhanda@uga.edu<\/u><\/p>\n

http:\/\/handahitesh.wix.com\/handaresearchgroup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Secondary Mentor <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ramana Pidaparti<\/strong><\/p>\n

College of Engineering<\/p>\n

University of Georgia<\/p>\n

Telephone: 706-542-4057<\/p>\n

E-mail: rmparti@uga.edu<\/u><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Graduate Student\/PostDoc mentors (Name, Affiliation and Email\/Phone):<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Goudie, M.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PhD Student, College of Engineering<\/p>\n

Email: marcus.goudie25@uga.edu<\/u><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Project Description:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Various ocular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa require lifelong treatment through daily eye drops or monthly injections into the eye to avoid blindness. Ocular diseases are prevalent throughout society especially affecting adults over the age of 50. An estimated 1.6 million adults suffer from age-related macular degeneration in the U.S. alone, with approximately 500,000 cases diagnosed annually worldwide. Treatment of these ocular diseases is typically done through monthly ocular injections, costing time and money in doctor visits. In addition, the repeated ocular injections run the risks of intraocular infections, hemorrhages, and retinal detachment. While daily eye drops are an alternative to injections, only 5% of the administered drug may reach the anterior intraocular tissues through the cornea. Orally delivered medications may be most convenient for the patient, but come with serious systemic side effects due to the high dosages. These high dosages are required for therapeutic levels to be reached in the eye through the blood-retina barrier. Developing an implantable drug delivery device would provide controlled delivery and effective use of drugs, while required doctor visits and complications from frequent injections. The controlled delivery of drugs will maximize efficiency and allow the patient to experience improvements to their eyesight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

REU student role and responsibility:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The student will work under the supervision of the graduate student in Dr. Handa\u2019s lab:<\/p>\n