Iranian Scientist Contributes to Innovation for Acute Eye Diseases Treatment
Scientists from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation of the United States have developed a novel, self-plugging microneedle for injecting therapeutics into the eyes, potentially solving one of the major challenges of treating eye diseases.
The innovation helps to accurate delivery therapeutic drugs to the retina while guarding against possible complications at the injection site.
The research shows preclinical evidence that this innovative, biodegradable microneedle, dip-coated with a therapeutic drug for release upon insertion into the eyeball, can also be equipped with a special hydrogel that simultaneously seals off the insertion hole.
Additionally, this self-plugging microneedle can be fabricated with different needle lengths, so therapeutics can be precisely targeted and dispersed to retinal tissues or other areas within the eyeball.
“This novel improvement in drug delivery treatment can avoid problems associated with using needles to treat serious eye diseases,” said Khademhosseini, Ph.D., TIBI’s Director and a co-author of the study.
“It is one of many simple, yet effective and impactful innovations from our institute, which is focused on translating biomedical engineering into clinical realities.”
The challenge of the research was the need to deliver the drug to the retina.
The retina is a thin layer of cells that make up the inner lining of the very back of the eyeball. It enables vision by receiving light and converting it to signals that travel to the brain, which then interprets them as images.
The retina and its critical central portion, the macula, are subject to different types of damage due to age, genetics, disease, and other risk factors.
This damage can cause symptoms ranging from distorted or seriously impaired vision to complete blindness and can be widespread among different populations.
Indeed, age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in adults over 60, and diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years.
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