Researchers develop best skin patch drug delivery system to date
Orange County, CA - December 23rd 2016 - Disassociated from traditional injections, researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden have designed an effective skin patch for drug delivery. Aimed at elucidating the previous limitations experienced by past devices, this adherence is believed to be the first of its kind in scientific study. The epidermal patch is made of a soft polymer that has raised microneedles on one side that together ensure comfortable wear with no fear of abating connection.
The microneedles are embedded in the upper layer of the skin, avoiding the nerves, to not only deliver drugs, but also extract physiological signals, body fluids for painless blood glucose and pH testing, as well as administer skin treatments in cosmetics and bioelectric therapies.
Most microneedle patches being developed are monoliths, or made of the same material. When made completely out of consolidated material, the needles permeated well, but were uncomfortable to wear. Alternatively, being made entirely of soft material made the patches comfortable to wear, however they lost the ability to penetrate the skin effectively. To remedy this, the KTH researchers developed two versions of the patch when analyzing the microneedle technology.
One patch, type B, was more flexible than the other, type A, with both still being made of soft and hard material. Both versions successfully pierced the skin with each of the 50 microneedles during a 30 minute test. Patch type B had more resilience than type A, its base being made from molded thiol-ene-epoxy-based thermoset film, making it able to conform to creases and folds in the skin easily, with subjects reporting no pain during wear.
“The chronically ill would not have to take daily injections,” says Niclas Roxhed, co-author and research leader at the Department of Micro and Nano Systems at KTH, in a press release by the university.
Not only bypassing daily injections, the patch offers hygienic delivery. Improper needle use is recognized to cause 1.3 million premature deaths and millions in healthcare costs.
“Since the patch does not enter the bloodstream, there is less risk of spreading infections,” said Roxhed.
The researchers are confident in this breakthrough, but there is plenty of work to be done. The attachment of microneedles to a flexible base demands closer examination if the patch is to be as thin as expected. Researchers already have plans for using microneedles with widened bases and embedding them into the base substrate material in hopes the result will improve attachment strength.
This research will play an important role in the developing field of wearable medical technology.
Read their study here.
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Researchers develop best skin patch drug delivery system to date Orange County, CA – December 23rd 2016 – Disassociated from traditional injections, researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden have designed an effective skin patch for drug delivery. Aimed at elucidating the previous limitations experienced by past devices, this adherence is believed to […]