MIT experts have developed a skin-adhesive patch that can be injected into the body using ultrasound waves. Photo: Courtesy of New Atlas
Boston: Administering medication by injection needle is still a painful and undesirable practice worldwide. In this context, American experts have created a patch that can inject medicine into the body painlessly through ultrasound and bubbles instead of a needle.
The patch developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been named the ‘Conformal Ultrasound Sinophoresis Patch (CUSP). It sticks to the skin like a tattoo. It then emits pulses of ultrasound that open the skin pores and allow the drug to enter the skin.
The patch consists of four transducers that operate with an electric current in fine copper wires. A cavity in the Hertransduser is loaded with medication. As soon as electricity reaches there, vibration is generated and bubbles start forming in the liquid. This creates a spray of liquid that passes through the skin and the medicine enters the body.
A hydrogel is applied to adhere the graft to the skin. After it was developed, it was first tested on pigs’ skin and a type of B vitamin was successfully tested. Thus, the drug was absorbed into the body with a 26-fold improvement. Ultrasound was used in this process.
According to experts, it can be used successfully in skin cancer, burns and other skin disorders. Apart from this, medicines to remove skin wrinkles can also be tried with it.
However, human trials are still far away.
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