Overview
- HOBIT, detailed in a Device paper published Friday, pairs on‑board power with an iridium oxide oxygenator that splits nearby water to make oxygen for implanted therapeutic cells.
- The gum‑sized unit encloses engineered cells in alginate microbeads inside a semipermeable chamber that blocks immune attack while letting nutrients and medicines move in and out.
- In 30‑day rat tests, oxygenated implants kept blood levels of an anti‑HIV antibody, leptin, and the GLP‑1‑like drug exenatide steady while levels of short‑lasting drugs faded within a week in controls.
- The oxygenated devices preserved about 65% of cells after a month compared with roughly 20% in non‑oxygenated controls, showing local oxygen delivery sustained dense cell clusters.
- For translation, a month‑long cell‑free implant in a cynomolgus macaque was implanted and removed without major adverse response, and the team plans larger‑animal and disease‑specific studies with a provisional patent and DuraCyte ties disclosed.