Alejandra Moyers

Alejandra Moyers

Biography

Alejandra is a rising senior at Brown University, pursuing a double major in Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience. There, she works in the Tripathi Laboratory, developing diagnostic tools for cancer treatment, such as an automated electrical dissociation device and optimized organoid formation methods, to enhance the accuracy of medicine. She is particularly passionate about women’s health, researching unaddressed gaps in knowledge and creating innovative, patient-centered technology that empowers women and improves their well-being. Last summer, she was aResearch Intern at MIT ́s Lewis Laboratory, implementing brain imaging techniques to explore sex differences in cerebrospinal fluid dynamics during healthy aging in humans. Alejandra is current lyan intern in the Conformable Decoders group at MIT’s Media Lab, working on a non-invasive, implantable drug delivery device for hormonal therapy treatments.With this, she hopes to improve the experience patients have with these medical procedures and make an impact on bringing women to the forefront of science.

Abstract

Characterization of Implantable, Ultrasound-Responsive Drug Delivery Device for Hormone Replacement Therapy

Current drug delivery methods for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) present challenges, leading to diminishing efficacy and patient dissatisfaction. HRT, used for menopause, osteoporosis, and IVF, is typically administered via oral pills, vaginal creams/tablets, transdermal patches, and intramuscular injections. These methods have limitations, including variable bioavailability, systemic side effects, skin irritation, and fixed dosages. Emerging drug delivery technologies like light, magnetic, electrical, and pH-
triggered systems also face issues with penetration, activation, or tissue compatibility. Ultrasound-triggered delivery is promising due to frequency and amplitude modulation, enabling tailored, painless hormone release. Prior work has demonstrated embedding piezoelectric transducers in soft elastomers can enhance drug delivery up to 30-fold. Motivated by the need for optimized HRT and ultrasound’s advantages, we are developing a device integrating an ultrasound-responsive hydrogel and resonator for enhanced delivery. This project contributes two main advances: developing an automated 3-axis gantry with a custom interface for complex transducer beam profiling, and characterizing sodium alginate hydrogel drug release. We developed a GUI to automate the 3-axis gantry with a hydrophone for tunable motor control and 3D pressure mapping. Using this system, we characterized the beam profiles of four transducers and evaluated the red-dye release from the hydrogel at  different resonant frequencies, analyzing results via HPLC. Combining this computational tool with deeper insight into the resonator and hydrogel responses enables optimal device configuration. This leverages ultrasound-responsiveness to improve HRT, offering women safer, more tunable options that reduce health risks and current treatment limitations.