Intra-Dermal drug delivery: Opportunities and Challenges?

Microneedles could also be used for drug delivery. The team has reportedly used the same microneedle patches to administer a wide variety of drugs, and immunologists are already excited about their potential for delivering vaccines painlessly and easily. There's no word yet on cost or timeframe — as you'd expect, the patches need to undergo rounds of clinical testing before they'll be seen in the real world. But if they deliver even half of their promise, it could be a major leap forward for medical science. And, most importantly, no more painful trips to the doctor.

Microneedles continue to show promise as a replacement - in at least some applications - for the hypodermic needle. Typically, a sheet containing an array of the tiny needles is adhered to the patient's skin, like a bandage. The microneedles painlessly pierce the top layer of skin, then gradually deliver the medication within them by harmlessly dissolving into the patient's bloodstream. As an added bonus, once everything is complete, there are no bio-hazardous used needles to dispose of. Now, bioengineers from Massachusetts' Tufts University have de

Via Jean-Philippe BOCQUENET