Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Mediated Drug Delivery for First Aid

Abstract

Timely administration of key medications toward patients with sudden diseases is critical to saving lives. However, slow transport of first‐aid therapeutics and the potential absence of trained people for drug usage can lead to severe injuries or even death. Herein, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐mediated first‐aid system for targeted delivery (uFAST) is developed. It allows unattended administration of emergency therapeutics‐loaded transdermal microneedle (MN) patches toward patients to relieve symptoms by a contact‐triggered microneedle applicator (CTMA). The implementability and safety of the uFAST for first aid is demonstrated in a severe hypoglycemic pig model by automatically delivering a glucagon patch with immediate and bioresponsive dual release modes. This platform technique may facilitate the development of UAV‐mediated first‐aid treatments for other sudden diseases.

Transdermal Drug Delivery System: Current Status and Clinical Application of Microneedles

“…Many individuals around the world still die without receiving timely medical attention due to a lack of emergency equipment, traffic congestion, inconvenient geographical locations, and the inability to call for help when unconscious. Sheng et al have developed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-mediated emergency system called uFAST 89 (Figure 9D). The uFAST consists of water-soluble microneedles filled with lifesaving medication combined with contacttriggered microneedle applicator (CTMA) and UAV to enable self-administered first aid without relying on others (Figure 9D d 2 ).…”

“…The microneedle patch is affixed to the CTMA, which is securely housed within the UAV. Reproduced with permission from ref . Copyright 2023, Wiley.…”

Ultrarapid‐Acting Microneedles for Immediate Delivery of Biotherapeutics

“…After in situ photopolymerization, a UV-curable base was integrated to prepare the URA-MN patch. [13] As shown in Figure 1c, the patch contains an array of pyramid-shaped needles with a width of 500 μm at the base and a height of 1200 μm. The fluorescence images revealed uniform distribution of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled LRT (a representative biotherapeutics) at the tip of each needle.…”

Microneedle‐Mediated Cell Therapy

“…[6] Accounting for their prominent metrics including minimal invasiveness, favorable therapeutic efficacy, and improved patient adherence, MNs have been widely explored in various applications including drug delivery, vaccination, cosmetic products, and first aid interventions. [1,[7][8][9][10][11][12] In addition to facilitating transdermal transport of traditional molecular drugs, MN devices have also been investigated to deliver therapeutic cells for cellular therapy during the past decade. [13] Cell therapy aims to leverage exogenous living cells such as immune cells, stem cells, and pancreatic cells to directly interact, express cytokines, or eliminate dysfunctional/diseased cells for modulating the function of the patient's cells.…”