Noninvasive transdermal insulin delivery using ultrasound transducers

Abstract

Noninvasive transdermal delivery of insulin is suggested in this paper using ultrasound transducers to improve the quality of life of diabetic patients. It is a preferable technique over the traditional invasive and painful subcutaneous insulin injections. Ten piston-shaped ultrasound transducers operating in the mid frequency range (100–200 kHz) were housed to include a reservoir that intended to hold insulin during in vivo transdermal delivery. Eleven rabbits were divided into two groups. The control group (n=6) did not receive ultrasound while the exposure group (n=5) received ultrasound for only ten minutes. Over the recording period of 60 minutes, blood Glucose levels in the control group remained around 125 mg/dl; while for the exposure group, it reduced from 132.4 mg/dl at the beginning of the experiment to 87.6 mg/dl after 60 minutes. Piston transducers in the mid range frequency were found feasible in transdermal insulin delivery in vivo using local rabbits. More investigations are required to test more frequency ranges with different hyperglycemic rabbit models.