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Department of Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transport Patent Title Matrix and device and use thereof for optically- controlled release of chemicals. Ref. CNR 10205 Assignee (s): CNR CNR Institute: IFAC Main Inventor: Roberto Pini Countries: IT, EP Priority date: 19/04/2012 Abstract The present invention relates to a matrix and a device for optically-controlled release of chemical species, based upon the light excitation of plasmonic nanometric particles developing heat in a controlled and localized way, wherein chemicals are contained in supramolecular aggregates of amphiphilic molecules. The chemical species to be released can be a drug or in general any substance to be administered for therapeutic, diagnostic and/or cosmetic use. The supramolecular aggregates of amphiphilic molecules containing the chemical species to be delivered are of thermosensitive type, that is they are able to modify some of their chemical and/or structural properties in presence of a temperature variation, thus determining the partial or total delivery of the chemical species contained therein. Background Different solutions for using supramolecular aggregates of amphiphilic molecules, in particular micellar structures and liposomes, used to contain and transport hydrophobical and hydrophilic chemical substances are known. However, it is difficult implementing an exact positioning of the structures containing the chemical species to be delivered at the level of the biological target to be treated. Consequently, the administration of the chemical species results to be poorly localized and scarcely controllable. Technology The invention relates to a release device comprising: 1) a porous polymeric matrix allowing the passage of a chemical species to be delivered; 2) a plurality of nanometric particles dispersed in said matrix, apt to be excited when are invested by a light flux to generate heat; 3) a plurality of thermosensitive structures (aggregates of amphiphilic molecules), containing the chemical species to be delivered. Advantages and Applications This approach allows a controlled, localized and repeatable administration of a chemical species, by exploiting the thermosensitivity of the structures of amphiphilic molecules used as reservoir thereof, without requesting a direct heating of the application area or however an invasive or potentially dangerous procedure. Development stage The technique has been implemented and tested experimentally in cell cultures and in animal biological tissue. The results have been the subject of numerous articles in high impact journals and press release. 27