Big step in battling bladder disease
The millions of people worldwide who suffer from the painful bladder disease known as interstitial cystitis (IC) may soon have a better, long-term treatment option, thanks to a controlled-release, implantable device invented by MIT professor Michael Cima and other researchers. In the mid-2000s, a urologist at Boston Children’s Hospital contacted Cima — at the behest of Institute Professor Robert Langer — with a plea: Could he develop an alternative treatment for IC? Treating the debilitating disease — which causes painful and frequent urination that can interrupt daily life — currently requires infusing the drug lidocaine into a patient’s bladder through a catheter. This provides temporary relief and must be repeated frequently. “You hear that and you say, ‘There has to be a better way,’” says Cima, the David H. Koch Professor of Engineering. Rising to the challenge, Cima and engineering student Heejin Lee SM ’04, PhD ’09 invented a solution: a pretzel-shaped silicone tube...