Ultrasensitive Phototriggered Local Anesthesia

An injectable local anesthetic producing repeatable on-demand nerve block would be desirable for pain management. Here we present a phototriggerable device to achieve repeatable and adjustable on-demand local anesthesia in superficial or deep tissues, consisting of gold nanorods attached to low temperature sensitive liposomes (LTSL). The particles were loaded with tetrodotoxin and dexrnedetomidine. Near-infrared light (NIR, 808 nm, continuous wave) could heat gold nanorods at low fluence (short duration and low irradiance), leading to rapid release of payload. In vivo, 1-2 min of irradiation at <= 272 mW/cm(2) produced repeatable and adjustable on-demand infiltration anesthesia or sciatic nerve blockade with minimal toxicity. The nerve block intensity and duration correlated with the irradiance and duration of the applied light.