Friday, January 20, 2017

Delivering Insulin to Daily Users without Injection - Science

Researchers are working toward a patch which delivers insulin on-demand by the body so it's painless and effective.  (Science Daily:  Toward a 'smart' patch that automatically delivers insulin when needed)


Tiny, painless microneedles on a patch can deliver insulin in response to rising glucose levels.

Credit: American Chemical Society

- SD


The researchers developed a skin patch covered in painless microneedles that are loaded with tiny insulin-carrying pouches.  The pouches are engineered to break apart rapidly and release the insulin in response to rising glucose levels.  Diabetic mice wearing the patch maintained consistent concentrations of insulin in their blood.  When these mice received a shot of glucose, their blood sugar levels spiked initially, but then fell to normal levels within two hours.

- SD

Since I do not suffer from the disease, I cannot say from my own life except I don't want a shot any more than anyone else.  It seems horrible to me that people with a high need for insulin need to inject themselves every day so I assume this will be a great relief.

There is no punchline beyond the above and no editorial to make on it.  If this is your situation in life then hopefully this means help is on the way soon.

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