Tiny micro-needles hold great promise for fighting chronic diseases
June 26th, 2010 - 5:57 pm ICT by ANIWashington, June 26 (ANI): Tiny needles- much smaller than conventional hypodermic needles- hold great promise for use in portable medical devices for patients with chronic conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease or diabetes.These microneedles cause less pain, tissue damage and skin inflammation for patients.
However, longstanding concerns regarding the possibility of infection associated with microneedles have been an obstacle to their widespread adoption.
Now, a team led by researchers from North Carolina State University has developed a way to incorporate antimicrobial properties into microneedles.
The new technique minimizes the concerns related to possible infection, and is expected to spur development of new medical applications using microneedles.
The researchers found that modifying the surface of a microneedle with an antimicrobial coating both prevents microbial growth and does not adversely affect skin cell growth.
This means that it prevents bad stuff from infecting the site, with minimum damage to the skin, reports Live Science.
Researchers applied the coating by using a laser-based vapour deposition process to create a thin film of silver (which is antimicrobial) on the microneedle surface.
These silver-coated microneedles could be incorporated into permanent or semi-permanent medical devices - such as glucose monitors for patients with diabetes. (ANI)
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