The Researchers at MIT unveiled it using "Ultrasonic Waves"
Researchers are also exploring the possibility of implanting similar devices inside the body to deliver drugs to treat cancer or other diseases.
Pic : Ultrasonic Wave Wizardry: The Future of Drug Delivery is Here!
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Say goodbye to painful injections and cumbersome drug administration methods! MIT researchers have developed a wearable patch that delivers drugs painlessly through the skin, using ultrasonic waves. This cutting-edge technology could revolutionize treatments for a variety of skin conditions, as well as offering targeted drug delivery for medical and cosmetic applications.
Painless Patch: A Game-Changer in Medicine
The skin, an attractive route for drug delivery, allows direct administration to the site of need. However, delivering drugs through the skin has always been a challenge due to its tough outer layer. This groundbreaking wearable patch uses ultrasonic waves to create tiny channels in the skin, allowing drugs to pass through painlessly. This innovative approach can be adapted for hormones, muscle relaxants, and other drugs, offering comfort and control to patients and consumers.
Breaking Barriers with Sound Waves
Traditional drug delivery methods such as oral or intravenous administration can be inefficient and uncomfortable for patients. With this ultrasonic patch, drugs bypass the gastrointestinal tract, offering a more targeted and focused drug delivery experience.
The lightweight, wearable patch is embedded with disc-shaped piezoelectric transducers that convert electric currents into mechanical energy. When activated, these transducers generate pressure waves in the fluid, creating bubbles that burst against the skin. The microjets produced by the bursting bubbles penetrate the skin's tough outer layer, allowing drugs to enter the body.
A New Era in Drug Administration
The researchers tested the device using niacinamide, a B vitamin found in many sunscreens and moisturizers. When delivered using the ultrasound patch, the amount of drug that penetrated the skin was 26 times greater than what could pass through the skin without ultrasonic assistance.
Compared to microneedling, a technique sometimes used for transdermal drug delivery, the patch delivered the same amount of niacinamide in 30 minutes that could be delivered with microneedles over a six-hour period.
Promising Prospects and Future Applications
The current version of the device allows drugs to penetrate a few millimeters into the skin, making it potentially useful for drugs that act locally within the skin, such as niacinamide, vitamin C, or topical drugs used to heal burns. With further modifications, this technique could be used for drugs that need to reach the bloodstream, such as caffeine, fentanyl, or lidocaine.
In the future, this kind of patch could be useful for delivering hormones like progesterone. Researchers are also exploring the possibility of implanting similar devices inside the body to deliver drugs to treat cancer or other diseases.
Thanks and Credit : MIT , The Tatva, Times Now