Microscopic Needles Could Revolutionize Eye Treatment

A new technique that effectively delivers drugs to the eyes, using microscopic needles, could offer hope to the millions of patients worldwide suffering from common eye diseases that threaten vision such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University in America will present this research, entitled “Microneedles for Ocular Drug Delivery,” to international experts at the Ophthalmic Drug Delivery symposium being held at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain today.

The research looks at how microneedles can be used to deliver drugs to the eye through a minimally invasive procedure. The needles used to penetrate the eye only go as deep as half a millimeter into the eye tissue. This means that the needles do not penetrate far enough to cause as much damage as traditional needles. As a result, they can be applied to the eye using only local anesthetic.

This technique has the potential to revolutionize the way of treating common eye conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Traditional delivery methods such as eye drops have difficulty in efficiently delivering drugs to the back of the eye, and ordinary injections are invasive as the needle penetrates across eye tissues. Repeated injections with regular needles can also result in other serious complications to vision.

Samirkumar Patel from the research team, said: “The eyes are one of the most sensitive and delicate organs in the human body, and perhaps the most fascinating. They present us with the window through which we view the world, and are responsible for four fifths of all the information our brain receives.

“Although the research is at an early stage it does show that it is possible to use microneedles to effectively deliver drugs to targeted sections of the eye, such as the anterior and posterior portions. No inflammatory response or other adverse effects were observed in our early tests. This is promising news for those who are suffering from vision threatening diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.”

The next stage of development will be further research to confirm safety and gain a better understanding of the long-term effects.

Source: Royal Pharmaceutical Society of GB

Net News Publisher for World News