Pinch-points open micropores for needle-free drug delivery

In a paper published in Science Advances, the researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) showed that bringing together two magnets to pinch and apply pressure to a fold of skin led to short term changes in the skin barrier, and specifically the formation of micropores underneath its surface.

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In tests on mice, they showed that these micropores, of about three micrometres in area, allowed drugs applied on the surface of the skin to diffuse through it more easily. Six times greater quantity of drug diffused through the skin of mice with the micropores compared to the skin of mice which did not receive the temporal pressure treatment.

“Our research project was first inspired by the traditional Chinese medicine ‘tuina’ therapy, where physicians rub and apply pressure on skin and muscle tissue and apply a topical ointment,” said lead author Dr Daniel Lio.