Science Article

A swallowable ultrasound device called uPill could end the need for painful daily injections

DAILY injections are a painful fact of life for many people with diabetes or cancer. Pills are an easier and more pleasant treatment method but substances like insulin do not penetrate tissue quickly enough to be effective when taken orally. Now a pill that uses ultrasound to speed up drug delivery could remove the need for needles.

Ultrasound has been used for years to accelerate the transfer of drugs through skin and can increase drug absorption by a factor of 10. The method works by heating up molecules inside skin tissue, making cell membranes more permeable. It is particularly good for delivering protein-based drugs such as some cancer medicines, insulin and various vaccinations.

This technique has now been applied to a pill. Designed by biomedical engineering company Zetroz, the uPill will use ultrasound to increase the absorption rate of drugs through tissue in the gastrointestinal tract, says Daniel Anderson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is part of the team developing the device.

The required drug would be applied as a coating to the uPill and, once swallowed, the device would send ultrasound waves through the patient's gut to aid absorption. It would then pass through the digestive system, as a camera pill does. The device was presented at the IdeaStream conference at MIT in May. Animal tests are now being carried out to see if the device can pass through the digestive system safely.

"The key thing here is the miniaturisation technology we are using to make an already small device a lot smaller," says George Lewis, co-founder of Zetroz and lead engineer for the uPill. The firm previously developed an ultrasound patch to deliver drugs through the skin. "We are developing the smallest ultrasound system in the world."

Anderson hopes the uPill could hit the market in the next couple of years. "It is far too early to claim victory but we are excited about the potential applications," he says. "It could create an entirely new class of drugs."

The pills won't come cheap - each one will cost $20 to $30. But while the device is, in theory, reusable, Anderson admits this probably won't be a hugely popular option.