Achieving a major breakthrough in the field of healthcare materials, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhilai have developed a novel 'smart' drug-delivery material. Led by Dr. Sanjib Banerjee, the team comprising researchers Swarrup Maiti, Sudipta Paul, Sandipan Ghosh, and Dr. Sanjay Kumar Gupta has engineered a unique technology capable of protecting medicines from harsh stomach acids and releasing them into the intestine in a controlled manner. This innovation marks a revolutionary step toward making oral medications safer, more precise, and highly effective in the future.

Typically, many crucial oral medications lose their effectiveness before reaching the intestine due to the highly acidic environment of the stomach. The stomach acid damages the active ingredients of the drug before it can reach its target site, significantly reducing its efficacy and requiring patients to take frequent or higher doses to treat an ailment. To find a long-term solution to this critical medical challenge, the IIT Bhilai team developed a 'smart carrier' that acts as a robust protective shield over the medicine. This advanced material remains completely stable in the stomach's intense acidic environment and, upon reaching the favorable environment of the intestine, activates itself to release the drug gradually and in a controlled manner as required.

The standout feature of this path-breaking research is the "smart" and sensitive nature of the material, which senses internal changes and biological signals within the human body and responds with absolute precision. Furthermore, the researchers have integrated an 'inbuilt glow' (fluorescence) into the material, allowing scientists to easily track and monitor the safe transit and exact movement of the drug inside the body. In laboratory and animal trials (pre-clinical trials), this technology has yielded highly encouraging results, successfully protecting the drug under stomach-like harsh conditions, which opens up strong possibilities for minimizing side effects and vastly improving therapeutic outcomes in the future.

Expressing happiness over this success, the lead researcher from IIT Bhilai, Dr. Sanjib Banerjee, stated that this research takes the medical world a step closer toward smarter, more precise, and targeted medicine. The primary objective of the institute is to develop such advanced systems that prevent drug wastage, deliver medications to the exact site in the body, and enhance patient safety and medical care globally. Notably, this significant research work has been published in the highly prestigious and internationally acclaimed journal 'ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces', underscoring India's growing strides in future smart drug-delivery technologies and the global relevance of this innovation.

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RDJ/PJ

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