Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution

Abstract Transdermal drug delivery is of vital importance for medical treatments. However, user adherence to long-term repetitive drug delivery poses a grand challenge. Furthermore, the dynamic and unpredictable disease progression demands a pharmaceutical treatment that can be actively controlled i...

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Main Authors: Yihang Wang, Zeka Chen, Brayden Davis, Will Lipman, Sicheng Xing, Lin Zhang, Tian Wang, Priyash Hafiz, Wanrong Xie, Zijie Yan, Zhili Huang, Juan Song, Wubin Bai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-01-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44532-0
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author Yihang Wang
Zeka Chen
Brayden Davis
Will Lipman
Sicheng Xing
Lin Zhang
Tian Wang
Priyash Hafiz
Wanrong Xie
Zijie Yan
Zhili Huang
Juan Song
Wubin Bai
author_facet Yihang Wang
Zeka Chen
Brayden Davis
Will Lipman
Sicheng Xing
Lin Zhang
Tian Wang
Priyash Hafiz
Wanrong Xie
Zijie Yan
Zhili Huang
Juan Song
Wubin Bai
author_sort Yihang Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Transdermal drug delivery is of vital importance for medical treatments. However, user adherence to long-term repetitive drug delivery poses a grand challenge. Furthermore, the dynamic and unpredictable disease progression demands a pharmaceutical treatment that can be actively controlled in real-time to ensure medical precision and personalization. Here, we report a spatiotemporal on-demand patch (SOP) that integrates drug-loaded microneedles with biocompatible metallic membranes to enable electrically triggered active control of drug release. Precise control of drug release to targeted locations (<1 mm2), rapid drug release response to electrical triggers (<30 s), and multi-modal operation involving both drug release and electrical stimulation highlight the novelty. Solution-based fabrication ensures high customizability and scalability to tailor the SOP for various pharmaceutical needs. The wireless-powered and digital-controlled SOP demonstrates great promise in achieving full automation of drug delivery, improving user adherence while ensuring medical precision. Based on these characteristics, we utilized SOPs in sleep studies. We revealed that programmed release of exogenous melatonin from SOPs improve sleep of mice, indicating potential values for basic research and clinical treatments.
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spelling doaj-art-a95d34ec64414fa4bf6a3fa005f8f33f2025-08-20T02:16:59ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-01-0115111810.1038/s41467-023-44532-0Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolutionYihang Wang0Zeka Chen1Brayden Davis2Will Lipman3Sicheng Xing4Lin Zhang5Tian Wang6Priyash Hafiz7Wanrong Xie8Zijie Yan9Zhili Huang10Juan Song11Wubin Bai12Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDepartment of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at chapel HillUNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical EngineeringUNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDepartment of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillState Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan UniversityDepartment of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDepartment of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillAbstract Transdermal drug delivery is of vital importance for medical treatments. However, user adherence to long-term repetitive drug delivery poses a grand challenge. Furthermore, the dynamic and unpredictable disease progression demands a pharmaceutical treatment that can be actively controlled in real-time to ensure medical precision and personalization. Here, we report a spatiotemporal on-demand patch (SOP) that integrates drug-loaded microneedles with biocompatible metallic membranes to enable electrically triggered active control of drug release. Precise control of drug release to targeted locations (<1 mm2), rapid drug release response to electrical triggers (<30 s), and multi-modal operation involving both drug release and electrical stimulation highlight the novelty. Solution-based fabrication ensures high customizability and scalability to tailor the SOP for various pharmaceutical needs. The wireless-powered and digital-controlled SOP demonstrates great promise in achieving full automation of drug delivery, improving user adherence while ensuring medical precision. Based on these characteristics, we utilized SOPs in sleep studies. We revealed that programmed release of exogenous melatonin from SOPs improve sleep of mice, indicating potential values for basic research and clinical treatments.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44532-0
spellingShingle Yihang Wang
Zeka Chen
Brayden Davis
Will Lipman
Sicheng Xing
Lin Zhang
Tian Wang
Priyash Hafiz
Wanrong Xie
Zijie Yan
Zhili Huang
Juan Song
Wubin Bai
Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution
Nature Communications
title Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution
title_full Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution
title_fullStr Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution
title_full_unstemmed Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution
title_short Digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution
title_sort digital automation of transdermal drug delivery with high spatiotemporal resolution
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44532-0
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