Smart Insulin Patch

Invented to replace insulin injections for diabetes, the Smart Insulin Patch is a joint effort between diabetes doctors and biomedical engineers that could revolutionize how people with diabetes keep their blood glucose levels in check. Researchers at the University of North Carolina and NC State have created the first “smart insulin patch” that can detect increases in blood glucose levels and secrete doses of insulin into the bloodstream whenever needed. The patch – a thin square no bigger than a penny – is covered with more than one hundred tiny needles, each about the size of an eyelash. These “microneedles” are packed with microscopic storage units for insulin and glucose-sensing enzymes that rapidly release their cargo when blood glucose levels get too high. The study, which is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the new, painless patch could lower blood glucose in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes for up to nine hours. More subsequent clinical trials in humans will be required before the patch can be administered to patients, but the approach shows great promise.