Painless
patch can help in measuring drugs instead of drawing blood
Researchers have created an
inexpensive microneedle drug monitoring system — a thin patch pressed against a
patient’s arm — that could one day replace costly, invasive blood draws and
improve patient comfort. Microneedles are designed to puncture the outer layer
of skin, which acts as a protective shield, but not the next layers of
epidermis and the dermis, which house nerves, blood vessels and active immune
cells. The new system consists of a small, thin patch that is pressed against a
patient’s arm during medical treatment and measures drugs in their bloodstream
painlessly without drawing any blood.
The tiny needle-like projection, less than half a
milimetre long, resembles a hollow cone and does not pierce the skin like a
standard hypodermic needle. ‘Many groups are researching microneedle technology
for painless vaccines and drug delivery,’ said researcher Sahan
Ranamukhaarachchi, PhD student at University of British Columbia in Canada.
‘Using them to painlessly monitor drugs is a newer idea,’ Ranamukhaarachchi,
who developed this technology during a research exchange at Paul Scherrer
Institut (PSI) in Switzerland, said. The microneedle created by
Ranamukhaarachchi and his colleagues was developed to monitor the antibiotic
vancomycin, which is used to treat serious infections and is administered
through an intravenous line.
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