A nanoparticle made at the University of Central Florida shows promise as a drug delivery device for treating glaucoma, an eye disease that can cause blindness and affects millions of people worldwide. The nanoparticle can safely get past the blood-brain barrier making it an effective, non-toxic tool for drug delivery, according to Sudipta Seal, an engineering professor in UCF's Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center and the Nanoscience Technology Center.

Seal and his colleagues from North Dakota State University note that while barely 1 to 3 percent of existing glaucoma medicines penetrate into the eye, earlier experiments with nanoparticles have shown not only high penetration rates but also little patient discomfort. The size of the nanoparticles makes them less abrasive than some of the complex polymers now used in most eye drops.

A cerium oxide nanoparticle was created and bound with a compound that blocks the activity of an enzyme believed to play a role in causing glaucoma. Find out more here .


Topics: