Bubble-Like Ultrasonic Patch Could Make Needles & Pills A Thing Of The Past

The sting of a needle during vaccination can make even the toughest feel weak at the thought. Though medical innovation continues progressing at lightning speed, a replacement for the instrument has yet to be found. That is until the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a potential new candidate for drug delivery that takes a softer and more bubbly approach.
 
The solution, published in the journal Advanced Materials, comes wrapped up in a bubble-like patch that employs soundwaves to administer medication. Ultrasonic waves ripple through a wearer’s skin to create minuscule channels through which the drugs can enter the system.

In the experimentation phase, the team tested it on pig skin to deliver niacinamide and found that it could penetrate the body 26 times more than the amount that could pass through without ultrasonic assistance.
 
The patch is made of a silicone-based polymer called PDMS that can stick to your skin and is so lightweight that you won’t even feel it.

Not only does this remove the need for needles and pills, but it also creates a more efficient method of injesting the medication. Drugs taken via oral consumption often contain a higher dosage to mitigate any loss as it passes through the gastric system. In this instance, much smaller and more targeted prescriptions could benefit patients.
 
Medication that needs access to the bloodstream through intravenous methods like lidocaine, fentanyl, or caffeine can also be administered by the patch.
 
What’s more, scientists are even experimenting with using the patch to aid in cancer therapy, hoping to make the recovery process a little less painful.
 
Further human trials are next on the researcher’s agenda, and experimenting with bigger drug molecules such as hormones and insulin, which often need to be injected daily.
 
 
 

[via TechTimes and Drug Delivery Business News, images via Chia-Chen Yu et. al., MIT (CC BY 4.0)]