No one likes injections, which is why researchers are currently giving the humble plaster a makeover. By attaching microneedles to a flexible sticker, drugs could soon be administered subculaneously without even so much as a prick. The tactic has recently been proven to work for the flu vaccination and. in the US, a team has taken this idea even further; the smart plaster. It releases drugs only when needed by monitoring the blood 'We wanted to develop a smart patch the right dose at the right time.' says Zhen Gu, a biomedical engineer at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. US. His team has developed a patch that responds to blood clotting factors bv releasing heparin into the blood stream to prevent thrombosis, which can cause strokes and heart attacks and is one of the leading causes of death in the UK.
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