Lifeboat Foundation

The new device, developed by researchers from the University of California in the US, absorbs excess drugs before they spread throughout the body.

For example, doxorubicin, a chemotherapy drug, kills more tumour cells when given at higher doses. However, most patients cannot tolerate large amounts of the drug because it can cause heart failure, among other side effects.

But using the device, excess doxorubicin can be filtered out from the blood at locations outside of the tumour to reduce the harmful effects of the drug on the healthy cells.