Researchers Develop Microneedles to Accelerate Diabetic Wound Healing

Each day, about four people face having their lower limbs amputated because of non-healing diabetic wounds in Singapore, where some 400,000 people live with the disease.

- Zhaki Abdullah

To tackle this problem, researchers from NUS have developed two technologies which have shown to be effective in accelerating diabetic wound healing, thus reducing the risk of amputation.

Diabetic wounds can take a longer time to heal as a result of factors such as impaired blood circulation, a weakened immune system and chronic inflammation.

The new technologies use microneedle patches to accelerate diabetic wound healing in preclinical models by preserving the functions of growth factors—proteins that stimulate cell growth and tissue repair—and wound healing.

Microneedles are miniature needles whose tips can be as thin as one micrometer, or 0.001mm—less than the width of a human hair.

Microneedles are also used in dermatology to treat acne scars and facial wrinkles.

They can also be used to administer drugs and vaccines, with benefits such as being safer and less painful for patients, as well as having a lower risk of infection compared with regular needles.

The team that developed the two innovations is led by Assistant Professor Andy Tay from the biomedical engineering department at NUS' College of Design and Engineering.

Although growth factors are important in wound healing, Prof Tay pointed out that other enzymes known as proteases quickly break them down in diabetic wounds, significantly slowing down the healing process.

Diabetic wounds are also characterized by persistently high levels of inflammation, he added.

The use of microneedles can help tackle both issues, said Prof Tay.

"It is minimally invasive, can be fabricated with precision, and allows for the active compounds to be painlessly administered directly into wounds," he said.