A goal of ophthalmology researchers is to deliver medication to the back of the eye in a selective and minimally invasive way. An Emory Eye Center scientist and two researchers were awarded a patent for application for micro-needle technology in April 2011.
Because the micro-needle apparatus is so much smaller than currently used needles, there may be less discomfort for the patient. This is important since many patients with age-related macular degeneration have injections on a regular basis.
In the future, the same micro-needle technology may be used to inject medication directly into the eye for many other ocular conditions such as glaucoma thereby eliminating the need to put drops in the eyes every day.
Henry F. Edelhauser, Emory Eye Center’s Former Director of Research and one of the awardees of the patent said, “The beauty of this hollow-tubed micro-needle is that it can serve as a route for targeted drug delivery for retinal disease using an array of delivery suspensions such as micro-beads and micro-bubbles plus sustained delivery can be achieved with proper formulation design.”
For more information, call Joy Bell at (404) 778-3711.
