Yu, C., Shah, A., Amiri, N., Marcus, C., Nayeem, M. O. G., Karami, A. M., Dagdeviren, C.†, Advanced Materials, DOI: 10.1002/adma.202300066, 2023. [Invited Paper for Rising Stars Special Series]

Abstract

Ultrasound-induced transdermal drug delivery (sonophoresis) has long lingered in the by-lanes of academic and industrial research, and has failed to attain tangible commercial success. While localized, needleless delivery of drugs is an exciting prospect, the bulky, power-consumptive equipment and long exposure times do not justify the highly-variable, operator-dependent outcomes in the permeability enhancement effects observed in vivo. We report a conformable patch (cUSP) with embedded bulk piezoelectric elements to provide short-exposure (10 minutes) ultrasound and effect a 26.2-fold enhancement in niacinamide transport to the dermis. The final system is packaged in a compact form-factor on a flexible polymer substrate that can be applied on facial skin to aid hands-free penetration of popular cosmeceuticals. The ease-of-use and high-repeatability offered by the proposed system provides a game-changing alternative to patients and consumers suffering from skin conditions and premature skin aging.