Getting (Drugs) Under Your Skin: Using Ultrasound Waves, Researchers Boost Skin's Permeability to Drugs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Study

Using ultrasound waves, MIT engineers have found a way to enhance the permeability of skin to drugs, making transdermal drug delivery more efficient. This technology could pave the way for noninvasive drug delivery or needle-free vaccinations, according to the researchers."This could be used for topical drugs such as steroids -- cortisol, for example -- systemic drugs and proteins such as insulin, as well as antigens for vaccination, among many other things," says Carl Schoellhammer, an MIT graduate student in chemical engineering and one of the lead authors of a recent paper on the new system.

Back to news