Drug-Delivery Capsule Coated with Microneedles Could Replace Injections
Researchers at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have devised a novel drug capsule coated with microneedles that can inject drugs directly into the lining of the stomach after the capsule is swallowed. An ingestible capsule would contain a drug reservoir to house the therapeutic payload and have a pH-responsive coating to cover the microneedles for easy ingestion. After ingestion, the pill would pass through the stomach and enter the intestine. There, the coating would dissolve, revealing the microneedles. The motion of the tissue would compress the reservoir, expelling the drug out of the needles and into the tissue.