Painless microneedles instead of unpleasant injections...on the horizon~

[Imogene]

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It's only a matter of time before drugs are administered via patches with painless microneedles instead of unpleasant injections. But designers need to balance the need for flexible, comfortable-to-wear material with effective microneedle penetration of the skin. Swedish researchers say they may have cracked the problem.
In the recent volume of PLOS ONE, a research team from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm reports a successful test of its microneedle patch, which combines stainless steel needles embedded in a soft polymer base -- the first such combination believed to be scientifically studied. The soft material makes it comfortable to wear, while the stiff needles ensure reliable skin penetration.

Unlike epidermal patches, microneedles penetrate the upper layer of the skin, just enough to avoid touching the nerves. This enables delivery of drugs, extraction of physiological signals for fitness monitoring devices, extracting body fluids for real-time monitoring of glucose, pH level and other diagnostic markers, as well as skin treatments in cosmetics and bioelectric treatments.

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[MissMe]

Wow! That sounds great if it could be used to administer IV-antibiotics! Do you think it would replace pick-lines and ports? I live in Stockholm but have never heard of it.

 

[kenna2]

This does sound exciting, but I don't think this would replace IV's since the medication that is used needs to be administered via a vein. I think this is for things like insulin or other meds that don't require a vein. I could be wrong but that's what I got out of the article.

 

[LittleLab4CF]

Interesting advancement in the delivery of drugs! I recently saw my CF specialist with a question about how drugs are delivered. The reason behind my question has to do with an amazing experience I had a year and a half ago.

The medication I best tolerate for pain has several means of delivery. The first method, one that anyone who has had general anesthesia and "conscious sedation" has received this drug via IV delivery. Intravenous delivery is the most potent and in the hands of an anesthesiologist, expertly dosed to keep you under until and return you awake and alert. For patients self administration is most often delivered with a transdermal patch, replaced every 72 hours. The next means of delivery is through the wet membrane lining the mouth. Three ways of delivery to the oral mucosa, a sucker, lozenge and a spray both to deliver under the tongue. Finally is a nasal spray and it's an apex drug, possibly more effective than IV delivery.

I have long wondered if food and other nutrients are poorly absorbed in CF, if the various skins and membranes take in medicine differently. Turns out that apparently CF patients absorb materials quite differently depending upon the presentation and unknown factors. I was recently consulted by a PM specialist who's young pancreatitis patient was too nauseous to take oral pain medication.

Sometimes oral drugs can cause problems. Many CFers have pretty raw GI tracts. Ulcers, Crone's, inflammation, gastritis and GERD make for an easy access to the blood stream. The patient was taken off oral Dilaudid, a potent narcotic in a tiny pill. She was put entirely on a transdermal patch and her nausea went mostly away.

My experience was a little different. The patch worked fine but I developed an allergy to the adhesive. The suckers didn't perform proportionally and I discovered that the sugar laced suckers destroyed my teeth. I eventually was put on a sugarless sublingual version. It didn't work any better but it was a good solution. I finally found a delivery method that allowed me to reduce the amount by 1200%. What had lasted a month was now adequate for a year. The difference being delivery by nose spray. They have added pectin, a vegetable gel and a bit of mannitol which coats and jackets the drug.

So what is going on? My CF specialist believes that it is accurate that our ability to absorb medicines is variable and the nasal mucosa could be the best way to absorb drugs or not. It's apparently the vagaries of the disease. If micro-needles can penetrate our variable barriers, this could be wonderful.

LL