0:00:00.793,0:00:03.103
What do you do when you have a headache?

0:00:03.832,0:00:05.494
You swallow an aspirin.

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But for this pill to get[br]to your head, where the pain is,

0:00:10.594,0:00:15.971
it goes through your stomach, intestines[br]and various other organs first.

0:00:16.947,0:00:22.069
Swallowing pills is the most effective[br]and painless way of delivering

0:00:22.093,0:00:24.095
any medication in the body.

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The downside, though, is that swallowing[br]any medication leads to its dilution.

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And this is a big problem,[br]particularly in HIV patients.

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When they take their anti-HIV drugs,

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these drugs are good for lowering[br]the virus in the blood,

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and increasing the CD4 cell counts.

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But they are also notorious[br]for their adverse side effects,

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but mostly bad, because they get diluted[br]by the time they get to the blood,

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and worse, by the time[br]they get to the sites

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where it matters most:[br]within the HIV viral reservoirs.

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These areas in the body --[br]such as the lymph nodes,

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the nervous system,[br]as well as the lungs --

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where the virus is sleeping,

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and will not readily[br]get delivered in the blood

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of patients that are under[br]consistent anti-HIV drugs therapy.

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However, upon discontinuation of therapy,

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the virus can awake[br]and infect new cells in the blood.

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Now, all this is a big problem in treating[br]HIV with the current drug treatment,

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which is a life-long treatment[br]that must be swallowed by patients.

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One day, I sat and thought,

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"Can we deliver anti-HIV directly[br]within its reservoir sites,

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without the risk of drug dilution?"

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As a laser scientist,[br]the answer was just before my eyes:

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Lasers, of course.

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If they can be used for dentistry,

0:02:03.864,0:02:06.715
for diabetic wound-healing and surgery,

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they can be used for anything imaginable,

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including transporting drugs into cells.

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As a matter of fact,[br]we are currently using laser pulses

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to poke or drill extremely tiny holes,

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which open and close almost[br]immediately in HIV-infected cells,

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in order to deliver drugs within them.

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"How is that possible?" you may ask.

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Well, we shine a very powerful[br]but super-tiny laser beam

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onto the membrane of HIV-infected cells

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while these cells are immersed[br]in liquid containing the drug.

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The laser pierces the cell,[br]while the cell swallows the drug

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in a matter of microseconds.

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Before you even know it,

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the induced hole[br]becomes immediately repaired.

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Now, we are currently testing[br]this technology in test tubes

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or in Petri dishes,

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but the goal is to get[br]this technology in the human body,

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apply it in the human body.

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"How is that possible?" you may ask.

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Well, the answer is:[br]through a three-headed device.

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Using the first head, which is our laser,

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we will make an incision[br]in the site of infection.

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Using the second head, which is a camera,

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we meander to the site of infection.

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Finally, using a third head,[br]which is a drug-spreading sprinkler,

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we deliver the drugs directly[br]at the site of infection,

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while the laser is again used[br]to poke those cells open.

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Well, this might not seem[br]like much right now.

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But one day, if successful,[br]this technology can lead

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to complete eradication[br]of HIV in the body.

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Yes. A cure for HIV.

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This is every HIV researcher's dream --

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in our case, a cure led by lasers.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)