An experimental insulin needle patch
may soon be offered in the market to automatically deliver doses of insulin to
people with diabetes, according to a report by the French news agency AFP.
Trials have already been conducted
on people and insulin patch has been shown to work thereby offering a
“less painful alternative for people who must otherwise use needles to
inject themselves with insulin, said AFP.
University of North Carolina and
North Carolina State researchers described the product as “the first smart
insulin patch that can detect increases in blood sugar levels and secrete doses
of insulin into the bloodstream whenever needed.”
About the size of a penny, the patch
contains more than 100 tiny needles, each about as big as an eyelash, according
to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Each microneedle contains
“microscopic storage units for insulin and glucose-sensing enzymes that rapidly
release their cargo when blood sugar levels get too high,” said the study.
Mice that were injected with insulin
saw blood sugar levels return to normal, but they required another shot sooner
than the patch-wearing lab animals.
“If we can get these patches to work
in people, it will be a game-changer,” said John Buse, co-senior author and
director of the UNC Diabetes Care Center. Diabetes affects more than 387
million people worldwide. –End-
Image by: Diabeteshealth.com
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