August 31, 2010 – 3:31 pm

Babak Ziaie, a professor at Purdue University shows a new type of pump for drug-delivery patches that might use arrays of microneedles to deliver a wider range of medications than now possible with conventional patches. Image source: Mark Simons/Purdue University
Researchers at Purdue University have developed a new type of pump for drug-delivery patches that might use arrays of “microneedles” to deliver a wider range of medications than now possible with conventional patches. The current “transdermal” patches are limited to delivering drugs that, like nicotine, are made of small hydrophobic molecules that can be absorbed through the skin, says Babak Ziaie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering.
“There are only a handful of drugs that currently can be administered with patches,” he says. “Most new drugs are large molecules that won’t go through the skin. And a lot of drugs, such as those for treating cancer and autoimmune disorders, you can’t take orally because they aren’t absorbed into the blood system through the digestive tract.” Read more…
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