Many people are still afraid of needles and this method of drug delivery can be challenging for them. Therefore, scientists have developed a new wearable patch that can be attached to the skin and painlessly transfer the medicine into the skin through ultrasound pulses. This method may even be used for tattooing.
According to New Atlas, researchers from MIT University have developed a new method that allows the targeted delivery of drugs into the skin. The system they built,A sonophoresis patch that can be simulated(cUSP) and contains Hydrogel It sticks to the skin of the body.
Inside this patch, there are four converters that are connected to a copper wire and can conduct electric current. On top of each converter is a cavity that contains Liquid soluble drug molecules and when the transducers receive energy, they vibrate and bubble in the liquid. This creates tiny droplets of liquid that pass through the skin.
How effective is drug delivery with ultrasound pulses?
Researchers of this system on the skin Pig They tested and wanted to deliver a type of vitamin B known as niacinamide, which is found in many sunscreens and moisturizers, to this animal’s body. The result was that cUSP could 26 times more Send drug molecules to the body from patches that do not use ultrasound pulses.
They also compared this device with microneedle patches. The result was that cUSP was able to wide 30 minutes deliver the drug to the pigs, while the microneedle patches needed 6 hours to do this.
Researchers say that this method can especially be used for problems such as skin burns, skin cancer, or removing signs of aging. Also, by optimizing this system, it can be hoped that it will be possible to transfer the medicine to the deeper layers of the body.
The results of this research have been published in the journal Advanced Materials.
