Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a drug delivery technology that consists of an elastic patch that can be applied to the skin and will release drugs whenever the patch is stretched.<\/p>\n
For example, if applied to the elbow, the patch would release a drug when the elbow bends and stretches the patch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could be used to release painkillers whenever a patient with arthritic knees goes for a walk, or to release antibacterial drugs gradually as people move around over the course of a day,\u201d says Zhen Gu, co-senior author of a paper describing the work and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n
The technology consists of an elastic film that is studded with biocompatible microcapsules. These microcapsules, in turn, are packed with nanoparticles that can be filled with drugs.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how it works: The microcapsules stick halfway out of the film, on the side of the film that touches a patient\u2019s skin. The drugs leak slowly out of the nanoparticles and are stored in the microcapsules. When the elastic film is stretched, it also stretches the microcapsules \u2013 enlarging the surface area of the microcapsule and effectively squeezing some of the stored drug out onto the patient\u2019s skin, where it can be absorbed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the microcapsule is stretched from left to right, it is also compressed from bottom to top,\u201d says Yong Zhu, co-senior author of the paper and an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State. \u201cThat compression helps push the drug out of the microcapsule.\u201d<\/p>\n
After being stretched, the microcapsule is \u201cre-charged\u201d by the drugs that continue to leak out of the nanoparticles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis can be used to apply drugs directly to sites on the skin, such as applying anti-cancer medications to melanomas or applying growth factors and antibiotics for wound healing,\u201d says Jin Di, co-lead author and a Ph.D student in Gu\u2019s lab.<\/p>\n
The researchers also incorporated microneedles into the system, applying them on top of the microcapsules. In this configuration, the drugs can be squeezed through the microneedles. The microneedles are small enough to be painless, but large enough to allow drugs to diffuse into the bloodstream through tiny capillaries underneath the skin. \u201cThis expands the range of drugs that can be applied using the technology,\u201d says Shanshan Yao, co-lead author and a Ph.D student in Zhu\u2019s lab.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now exploring how this tool can be used to apply drugs efficiently and effectively to burn patients, and we plan to look at how this could be used for pain relief as well,\u201d Gu says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe materials are relatively inexpensive, and the manufacturing process is fairly straightforward, so we\u2019re optimistic that this could be scaled up in a cost-effective way,\u201d Zhu says.<\/p>\n
The paper, \u201cStretch-Triggered Drug Delivery from Wearable Elastomers Containing Therapeutic Depots,\u201d is published online in the journal ACS Nano<\/em>. Co-authors include Yanqi Ye and Jicheng Yu of the joint biomedical engineering program, and Zheng Cui and Tushar Ghosh of NC State.<\/p>\n The work was supported by the American Diabetes Association, a pilot grant from UNC Chapel Hill\u2019s NC TraCS Institute, and by the National Science Foundation through the ASSIST Engineering Research Center at NC State.<\/p>\n Source link :\u00a0https:\/\/news.ncsu.edu\/2015\/08\/technology-releases-drugs-when-stretched\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a drug delivery technology that consists of an elastic patch that can be applied to the skin and will release drugs whenever the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n