Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Octopus Suckers Inspire Transdermal Patches
3D printing is used to create an octopus-inspired transdermal drug patch for oral use.
Using 3D printing, they created a rubbery but strong suction patch that delivers drugs through the inner cheek. https://t.co/zEi1mPOGDT
— Popular Science (@PopSci) September 28, 2023
In a new study published today in Science Translational Medicine, senior author Leroux and his team replicated the suckers found at the end of an octopus’s arms. Using 3D printing, they created a rubbery but strong suction patch that delivers drugs through the inner cheek. The majority of participants in a small human trial reported that the suction patch was a comfortable fit and they would prefer this method to needle injections.“We have developed a very simple and easy to apply delivery system that could potentially replace injectables for several kinds of drugs,” Leroux says.
Octopuses use their grippy suckers to stay anchored in churning oceans or grab squirming prey. “The starting point was mimicking the good suction these creatures had to strongly stick to wet surfaces,” Leroux adds.
Their sucker-based model has a few advantages over swallowing a pill. Because the delivery system is placed in a cheek for absorption over time, the patch can be removed if needed. The domed cup also protects the drugs inside from dissolving in saliva.
Philip K. Dick was a very early science fiction advocate of unusual drug delivery methods, so it's no surprise that he would have introduced readers to this idea long in advance of the actual availability of the technology.
In his 1960 novel Vulcan’s Hammer he describes transdermal drug patches, which weren't available commercially until 1979:
Jason Dill put down the form. He opened a drawer of his desk and got out a flat metal tin; from it he took a capsule which he placed against his wrist. At once the capsule dissolved through the dermal layers; he felt it go into his body, passing into his blood stream to begin work without delay
I can't help but think that PKD would have been amused and fascinated by the biomimicry aspect of this oral transdermal drug patch.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/27/2023)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...' - Michael Crichton, 1969.
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...' - Iain Banks, 2010.
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic...
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.'
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
Orb Nomad Zero-Emission Electric Aircraft
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
ICE Buys Shock Gloves Like Batman's
What else is the Caped Crusader using?
Factories In The Sky Will Surpass Those Of Earth
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
Sleeper Drones Lie in Wait
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
Warfare Goes Underground In Ukraine
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'
