Theocharis Nikiforos Iordanidis

Theocharis is a PhD student in the division of MST. A mechanical engineer by training, his interests lie in medical microsystems for drug delivery and health monitoring.

Education

Theocharis received his diploma in mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in early 2017. During his last year there, he had joined the Systems Biology and Bioengineering Group and worked on his thesis for the development of a manufacturing process for 3D cell culture devices based on porous collagen scaffolds. The next steps were enrolling in the Medical Enginnering masters programme of KTH in 2018 and then joining MST as a doctoral student in 2020.

Research

• Drug delivering micro-implants
  
  A silicon micro-implant is checked under a microscope.
  
  Microscopic implantable drug reservoirs can enable the controlled release of potent drugs in a very localized manner, leveraging intravascular routes for implantation at the point where treatment is required.
   
• Micro nozzle based inhalers for delivering drugs to the lung
  
  Silicon micro-nozzles on a fingertip,  figure from:
  https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202201260
  
  Fabrication of microscale nozzles enables the delivery of mechanicaly sensitive drugs to the deep lung in the form of a soft mist composed of micron sized droplets.
   
• Ultrasonic energy harvesting for powering implantable devices
  
  Piezoelectric Ultrasonic energy harverster (PUEH) test chip.
  
  Implantable microdevices for health monitoring can be efficiently and safely powered utilizing ultrasound. Acoustic energy transfer enables power delivery deeper in tissue compared to RF powering methods. Utilizing the experience and expertise of MST in fabrication technologies, new materials and process flows become available to improve the power output and enable further miniaturization of the power module of an implant.
   
• Microneedle advances in transdermal drug delivery
  
  Microneedle devices on a fingertip.
  
  Novel geometric design can enable microneedle devices to open up new avenues for transdermal delivery of medium and large molecules. The translational potential of such technology has manifested in the form of a start-up in the KTH Innovation pre-incubator program!
  
  Morningstar Therapeutics - KTH innovation page
  Follow Morningstar Therapeutics on LinkedIn

Teaching

 Microsystem Technology

Keywords

Medical mems, microsystems technology, MEMS,  microfabrication, two photon polymerization,  ultrasound, ultrasonic energy transfer, implants, implantable device, micro-implants, microneedles, transdermal, oral, drug delivery, swirl nozzle, soft mist, inhaler