Publication

Conformable Ultrasound Face Patch for Cavitation Enhanced Transdermal Cosmeceutical Delivery

Yu, C., Shah, A., Amiri, N., Marcus, C., Nayeem, M. O. G., Karami, A. M., Dagdeviren, C.†, Advanced Materials, DOI: 10.1002/adma.202300066, 2023. [Invited Paper for Rising Stars Special Series]

Abstract

Ultrasound-induced transdermal drug delivery (sonophoresis) has long lingered in the by-lanes of academic and industrial research, and has failed to attain tangible commercial success. While localized, needleless delivery of drugs is an exciting prospect, the bulky, power-consumptive equipment and long exposure times do not justify the highly-variable, operator-dependent outcomes in the permeability enhancement effects observed in vivo. We report a conformable patch (cUSP) with embedded bulk piezoelectric elements to provide short-exposure (10 minutes) ultrasound and effect a 26.2-fold enhancement in niacinamide transport to the dermis. The final system is packaged in a compact form-factor on a flexible polymer substrate that can be applied on facial skin to aid hands-free penetration of popular cosmeceuticals. The ease-of-use and high-repeatability offered by the proposed system provides a game-changing alternative to patients and consumers suffering from skin conditions and premature skin aging. 

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