Your doctor likely administers your medications conventionally either through intravenous or oral methods, right? In some cases, oral drugs have seen reduced bio-availabilities and intravenous drug delivery is not something that most people can perform at home.
One of the medications that is being researched as a viable candidate for IR lights delivery system is the treatment for psoriasis called, methotrexate (MTX). Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that impacts the skin and joints. In many cases, the medication, when given 
intravenously or orally leads to overdoses, liver toxicity or even liver failure. Topical applications for MTX are preferred by many physicians for treatment of this condition.
Researchers studied various ways to deliver the medication transdermally as a way to reduce the need for frequent applications and to reduce the possibility overdose or liver toxicity. Researchers loaded microspheres with MTX and gold nanorods which were then exposed to near infrared light. The energy of the nanorods increased and converted to energy and that allowed for a small, controlled release of MTX.
The designers of the technology needed to find a way to control the release of the drug through the microparticle and the near infrared light.
Drug-delivery technology is becoming more prevalent in the market and is a separate focus of many pharmaceutical companies. Transdermal and topical treatments is an evolving market and technology for drug delivery. Today, the transdermal drug delivery market makes up about 10 percent of the market.
Universe Kogaku designs and manufactures optical lenses for medical, industrial, high tech and electronic applications.