Michael Coy
GOOD news, if you’re afraid of needles, researchers may have made a discovery that could end your fear.
Apparently, its official name is “aichmophobia”, but we all know it as ‘terror when faced with a needle-injection’.
It’s a perfectly natural reaction. We humans have evolved over millions of years to not want sharp objects breaking through our skin.
The problem has arisen in the last century or so, because science has found a way to put healing substances into our bloodstream, hypodermically.
We may smile at the thought of a loved one, shrinking away from the very syringe which is bringing a cure.
But it’s not funny.
Diabetes is on the increase in the general population.
As we all know, people who can’t control sugar levels in their bloodstream run the risk of falling into a coma, and even dying, if they don’t have daily injections of insulin.
Unfortunately for diabetics, insulin can’t be administered in tablet form.
This is because your digestive system would think the insulin was food, and would break it down. Hence the daily intravenous injections.
However, scientists in Málaga may be on the threshold of a life-changing medical breakthrough.
It is a painless and effective alternative to traditional injections, based on an “innovative system” of through-the-skin administration with dissolvable microneedle patches, and which opens up new possibilities in the treatment of various illnesses.
Without a doubt, one of the experiences many of us remember as utterly traumatic is that moment in the doctor’s office when we saw the doctor approach us with a needle.
Well, that situation could soon be consigned to the history books, thanks to a creation of researchers from the Málaga Biomedical Research Institute and the Nanomedicine Platform, who, in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast, have developed a painless alternative to traditional injections: “An innovative transdermal drug delivery system” based on “dissolvable microneedle patches.”
The research has been published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics and, according to its creators, opens up new possibilities for improving medical treatments because it represents a significant advance in the sustained and controlled release of drugs.
Soluble microneedle patches are an emerging technology that allows for the delivery of medications through the skin without causing pain or requiring traditional hypodermic needles.
“Our study demonstrates that it is possible to integrate mesoporous silica nanoparticles into these microneedles, allowing for precise and sustained release of the active ingredients,” explains Dr. Juan Luis Paris, principal investigator of the Ibima Bionand Platform project.
The discovery has been tested on neonatal pig skin – which is commonly used as a model for human skin – and on mice, but its discoverers clarify that in the future it would be desirable to test this system in humans to evaluate its therapeutic potential.
Paris, a member of the research group on Allergic Diseases to Drugs and Allergens led by María José Torres and Cristobalina Mayorga, adds that “it could have direct implications for dermatological treatments, vaccines, and the administration of personalised therapies.”
The tests confirmed the dissolution of the microneedles after their “effective insertion” and the “landing” of nanoparticles within the skin, as well as their ability to release the therapeutic payload in a sustained manner.
In other words, the microneedles (too small for your nerves to detect, therefore incapable of causing pain) dissolve after delivering doses of medicine to the exact parts of your body where they’re needed.
“This development,” explained the principal investigator, “brings us one step closer to the possibility of administering treatments without needles, more efficiently and with greater comfort for patients.”
He added that, “the ability to adjust the pore size of the nanoparticles allows us to modulate the release of drugs of different sizes, from small molecules to proteins. This could be crucial in diseases that require prolonged or personalized dosages.”
The team at the Malaga Biomedical Research Institute and Nanomedicine Platform is already exploring new applications for these microneedle patches, including their potential use in the administration of vaccines and targeted therapies for chronic diseases.
“Our goal is to continue optimizing this technology, still in its initial stages, to try to bring it closer to clinical trials as soon as possible,” concluded Paris.
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