Skin Ablation for Drug Delivery

About

Current methods for drug delivery include mechanical and thermal disruption of the skin. Commonly, skin permeation is achieved using microneedles, jet injection, or heating methods. Though all are somewhat effective at delivering drugs, each technique has an undesired side effect, including skin damage, bruising, and pain. In addition to creating a wound, drug delivery can be inconsistent with these techniques and, in the case of thermal/heat-based delivery, the drug can be degraded and skin can be burned. Using a novel fabrication method for creating a micro arcing device, skin is permeated using a combination of thermal and physical techniques. The micron-scale arcing device directly heats and discharges the injection fluid within microseconds. This high temperature, high velocity jet creates micropores on the surface of the exposed skin. Unlike current techniques, skin is not directly exposed to electric current or other heating elements. Though arc discharge occurs at a high temperature, actual surface contact is only microseconds and at temperatures of 60-100°C. Further, the micro-ablated pore size is adjustable, allowing for greater control. The overall system integrates the patch and the energy supply unit into a single portable device. Combined with a disposable, one time use, the overall device is more user-friendly, compared to other transdermal delivery systems. Using a combination of thermal and physical skin permeation, the micro arcing device promises to create more efficient and less painful transdermal drug delivery system. This patent-pending technique causes an increase of skin permeability by a 1000 fold with no direct exposure to heat or wound-inducing microneedles. Overall, this technology promises to simultaneously solve two of the industry’s greatest problems: effective transdermal delivery of drugs with minimal pain and skin damage.