Langston Suen’s grandfather was prescribed needle treatment he refused the treatment altogether. This led him to research retinal diseases and look for alternatives to intravitreal injections. Suen estimates that more than 100,000,000 patients worldwide have retinal diseases, mainly from diabetes or age. Thirty percent of those patients flat out refuse the monthly intravitreal treatment, because having a needle shoved in your eye is one of the most horrifying things imaginable.
Suen presents his drug delivery system in his SolveForX talk, Non-invasive alternative for eye injection. Langston has worked on the Sonikure method of drug delivery for almost a decade as a graduate student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The ultrasonic treatment is intended to be non-invasive and painless, with an efficiency close to injection methods.
A low frequency ultrasound transducers will replace the needle and then permeate the drops into the membrane of the eye. The three step procedure requires loading the drops into the applicator, adjusting the device to touch the sclera, and then using the ultrasound device. Suen does not have retinal disease but demonstrates the device on himself. He says that the low energy, low intensity ultrasound is different from the ultrasound used for imaging, and cites a fascinating study done on New Zealand white rabbits to investigate the long term vision effects on living creatures.
Suen recognizes that his project is a lifelong endeavor. Along with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering he will continue to develop the technology and demonstrate its use. The next big picture steps to take are seeking approvals from governing bodies that control drug delivery. If approval is granted then design optimization will take place to make the process more and more affordable for developing countries to use. The 2016 phase of the project is to engage with clinical trial centers and find 1000 volunteers who are willing to undergo 200 patient testings.
This is an amazing idea and project, but definitely still at the proof of concept stage. The potential exists to help not only the 30,000,000 patients worldwide who are currently refusing treatment but also the rest of the 100,000,000 patients. This talk is short on technical details but incredible in its use of big ideas to solve a huge problem.
(Images courtesy SolveForX)