They develop a "smart" syringe that does not fail in the delicate regions of the body – 02/03/2019

The syringes and hollow needles They have been used to provide drugs for more than half a century and now a team of scientists has decided to go further: an intelligent injector that adapts its administration in the delicate regions of the body, like the suprachoroidal space at the back of the eye.

The description of this new model is published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering in an article led by researchers at the Brigham anw Women's Hospital in Boston (United States).

Look also

Clarin Bulletins

The most read of the day | Discover what we talked about today to stay out of the world

Monday to Friday afternoon.

Basically, the researchers tested on animals a high sensitivity intelligent injector for tissue targeting – called i2T2 –, able to detect changes in resistance in order to administer medications properly and safely.

The injection route is used to administering treatments for the retina, wet macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy, according to scientific sources consulted by the agency EFE.

Here's how the "smart" syringe works in the eye

The choroidal layer is the middle layer of the eyeball and is filled with blood vessels; This is divided into several layers. One of these spaces is the suprachoroid, a difficult part to locate with a standard needle, according to the authors of this work.

This suprachoroidal space (SCS) has been imposed as an important place for the administration of drugs and it is difficult to reach because the needle has to stop after transition through the sclera, another part of the eye of less than one millimeter in thickness, and must be so as not to damage the retina.

The i2T2 device was manufactured using a standard hypodermic needle and pieces of syringes available on the market.

The body tissues, meanwhile, have different densities and the smart injector take advantage of pressure differences allow movement of the needle to a target tissue.

The new syringe it has been tested on fabrics of three animal models examine the accuracy of administration in suprachoroidal, epidural and peritoneal spaces, as well as subcutaneously.

Look also

The researchers also showed in the animal that the injector could release stem cells to the back of the eye, which could be helpful for regenerative therapies.

"The i2T2 will help facilitate injections into difficult-to-locate areas of the body," says Miguel Gonzalez-Andrades, ophthalmologist co-author of the manuscript and a contributor to Karp's lab: the next step towards human use is to demonstrate the utility and safety of technology in relevant preclinical models.

Source: EFE