Acoustic metamaterials-driven transdermal drug delivery for rapid and on-demand management of acute disease

Abstract Transdermal drug delivery provides convenient and pain-free self-administration for personalized therapy. However, challenges remain in treating acute diseases mainly due to their inability to timely administrate therapeutics and precisely regulate pharmacokinetics within a short time window. Here we report the development of active acoustic metamaterials-driven transdermal drug delivery for rapid and on-demand acute disease management. Through the integration of active acoustic metamaterials, a compact therapeutic patch is integrated for penetration of skin stratum corneum and active percutaneous transport of therapeutics with precise control of dose and rate over time. Moreover, the patch device quantitatively regulates the dosage and release kinetics of therapeutics and achieves better delivery performance in vivo than through subcutaneous injection. As a proof-of-concept application, we show our method can reverse life-threatening acute allergic reactions in a female mouse model of anaphylaxis via a multi-burst delivery of epinephrine, showing better efficacy than a fixed dosage injection of epinephrine, which is the current gold standard ‘self-injectable epinephrine’ strategy. This innovative method may provide a promising means to manage acute disease for personalized medicine.