UK prototype skin patch measures patients’ antibiotic levels in real time

Medical staff usually determine the level of antibiotics in a patient’s bloodstream through blood sampling, but scientists from Britain’s Imperial College London have made it possible to do just as well using a microneedle skin patch.

The sensor patch has tiny enzyme-coated needles on its underside, which, when pressed against the skin, painlessly penetrates and detects chemical alterations in the body’s interstitial fluids, as it is in the bloodstream. The patch then displays the concentration of antibiotics in the patient’s bloodstream on an external monitor, based on the extent of the fluid’s pH-change.

In the lab, small microneedle patches were placed on the forearms of 10 healthy volunteers, where they were able to accurately measure fluctuating levels of orally-administered penicillin. Their readings matched those of blood samples taken at the same times.

While the routine testing of drugs via blood samples “can take time”, Dr. Timothy Rawson, lead scientist at the university, said, “These new biosensors could change that. By using a simple patch on the skin of the arm, or potentially at the site of infection, our patches could tell us how much of a drug is being used by the body and provide us with vital medical information, in real time.”

Medical staff usually determine the level of antibiotics in a patient’s bloodstream through blood sampling, but scientists from Britain’s Imperial College London have made it possible to do just as well using a microneedle skin patch.

The sensor patch has tiny enzyme-coated needles on its underside, which, when pressed against the skin, painlessly penetrates and detects chemical alterations in the body’s interstitial fluids, as it is in the bloodstream. The patch then displays the concentration of antibiotics in the patient’s bloodstream on an external monitor, based on the extent of the fluid’s pH-change.

In the lab, small microneedle patches were placed on the forearms of 10 healthy volunteers, where they were able to accurately measure fluctuating levels of orally-administered penicillin. Their readings matched those of blood samples taken at the same times.

While the routine testing of drugs via blood samples “can take time”, Dr. Timothy Rawson, lead scientist at the university, said, “These new biosensors could change that. By using a simple patch on the skin of the arm, or potentially at the site of infection, our patches could tell us how much of a drug is being used by the body and provide us with vital medical information, in real time.”

The technology is hoped to be integrated into wearable devices that automatically inject more antibiotics into patients as necessary.

The technology is hoped to be integrated into wearable devices that automatically inject more antibiotics into patients as necessary.

Category: Features, Technology & Devices