IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 28

bryan christie design

The bedrock of modern medicine is an age-old
technology: the pill. For the most part, it works. The
drug inside the pill finds its way to whatever part of
the body it's meant to treat, and the patient recovers.
¶ But sometimes, oral medicaMedicine by
tions just aren't effective. The
MicroMachine
medication may interact with
other drugs or food. It may break down in the stomach before entering the bloodstream. Or, even more
frightening, it may trigger other, bigger problems even
as it aims to cure. Recall the painkiller Vioxx, which
did wonders for arthritis
Flexible microsystems
patients but also raised are enabling drugimplants For
the risk of heart attack delivery
the human body
and stroke. Or Baycol, a
cholesterol-lowering medication that was linked to
dozens of reports of fatal kidney failure. In one way
or another, traditional oral medications fail hundreds
of thousands of patients each year, according to the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ¶ For years,
researchers have searched for better ways to deliver
drugs. The ideal method
by Jeffrey T. BorensTein
would administer the right
dose to the exact area being treated, whether it's
an arthritic knee or a tumor in the lungs. From the
patient's perspective, it would be both convenient and
unobtrusive-as easy as, if not easier than, taking a pill.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum November, 2009

IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 1
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 2
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 3
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 4
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 5
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IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 7
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 8
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IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 21
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IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 26
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 27
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 28
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IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 37
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IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 40
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 41
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 42
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 43
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 44
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - 45
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum November, 2009 - Cover4
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