Researchers Develop Discreet Insulin Patch that Sticks to the Inside of Your Cheek

Researchers are always working on new, less invasive ways to get insulin into people with diabetes. Insulin injections are painful and inconvenient, and they can leave scars and bumps. They are invasive and require safe needle practices, sanitary conditions, and biohazard disposal. All these issues make it very desirable to have a better way to treat this difficult condition.

Skin patches or lotions have previously been methods teams tried to make work for insulin delivery, but they were largely ineffective, owing in part to the fact that our skin is a great barrier, and getting things to soak through it and into the bloodstream is difficult.

However, the lining in our mouths is less like the rest of our skin and more like a simple membrane lining, making it easier for medications to pass through it and into the bloodstream. The lining of the mouth is about a quarter of the thickness of our normal skin.

A team of researchers, led by Sabine Szunerits, have now created a working prototype of a discreet insulin-loaded patch that a person with diabetes can comfortably apply to the inside of their cheek. The team had previously developed a polymer fiber mat that releases drugs when activated by heat, so they wondered if it might be the perfect insulin patch. So far, things are looking promising.

The mat they used is made up of electrospun fibers of poly (acrylic acid), β-cyclodextrin, and reduced graphene oxide. This material has gained traction in the medical world recently as a versatile tool that can be used as a bandage or a reusable drug delivery system via the inner cheek or the cornea.

First, the researchers soaked small pieces of their nanofiber mat in an insulin solution for three hours and applied them to cheek linings and corneas taken from pigs. They heated the material for 10 minutes with a near-infrared laser to activate them.

They found that the insulin released from the pads passed through the cheek linings and cornea membranes much faster than they’re known to do through skin.

The researchers also used live insulin-dependent pigs to determine how well their invention worked. The pigs’ plasma insulin levels increased and their blood sugar levels declined shortly after the material was activated. This proof of concept shows the effectiveness and efficiency of the design.

Human volunteers were used for the last part of the experiment. No drugs were delivered, but six people placed a patch on the inside of their cheeks for two hours to see how comfortable and wearable it was. Half of the participants found the patch comfortable and barely noticeable during the time they wore it.

Next, the researchers hope to conduct more preclinical trials using animal models before moving to human subjects.

Would you treat your diabetes with a reloadable insulin patch inside your mouth? It’s a novel concept and one we’re eager to see how the public reacts to.