Bubbles Not Needles: MIT Scientists Create Ultrasonic Patch to Painlessly Deliver Drugs

Move over needles, there's a new drug delivery method in town, and it's way cooler than anything you've ever seen!

In a groundbreaking study, scientists from MIT have developed a wearable patch that delivers drugs through ultrasonic waves, making it easier and painless to administer medication to your body.

Power of Sound Waves

The secret lies in the power of sound waves. By applying ultrasonic waves to your skin, the patch creates tiny channels that drugs can pass through, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for drug delivery.

No more needles, no more swallowing bitter pills - just a simple, lightweight patch that can work wonders for wound healing, pain relief, and even cosmetic treatments.

"The main benefit with skin is that you bypass the whole gastrointestinal tract. With oral delivery, you have to deliver a much larger dose in order to account for the loss that you would have in the gastric system," Aastha Shah, one of the lead authors of the study, said in a statement with MIT News.

"This is a much more targeted, focused modality of drug delivery."

And the best part? The patch is so lightweight and easy to use that you will forget you're even wearing it! That's right - this is not some bulky piece of equipment that's going to weigh you down. The patch is made of PDMS, a silicone-based polymer that can stick to your skin without any tape or adhesive.

But do not let the simplicity fool you - this patch is a game-changer. In tests using pig skin (we know, not the most glamorous), the researchers showed that the patch was able to deliver 26 times more of the drug niacinamide than could pass through the skin without ultrasonic assistance.

And compared to micro-needling, a technique that involves puncturing the skin with miniature needles, the patch was capable of delivering an equivalent quantity of niacinamide in 30 minutes that microneedles would take six hours to deliver.

Needless and Endless Possibilities

However, it is not just niacinamide that can benefit from this new technology. By making some adjustments, the patch could be utilized for medications that require access to the bloodstream, like lidocaine, fentanyl, or caffeine.

Additionally, scientists are currently investigating the feasibility of implanting comparable devices within the body to administer medications for treating various diseases, including cancer. "Needless" to say, the possibilities are endless!

The scientists aim to refine the wearable patch to conduct human trials in the near future. They also intend to replicate their laboratory investigations with bigger drug molecules.

"After we characterize the drug penetration profiles for much larger drugs, we would then see which candidates, like hormones or insulin, can be delivered using this technology to provide a painless alternative for those who are currently bound to self-administer injections on a daily basis," Shah adds.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Advanced Materials.