Publications

Diabetes mellitus has become one of the greatest medical challenges affecting millions of people globally. Non- and minimally invasive approaches for insulin release are currently being intensively investigated to improve the treatment efficacy and quality of life for diabetic patients. Electrically triggered drug release exhibits tremendous potential since it allows medications to be dosed intermittently on demand and over a long period of time using simple, safe, and inexpensive approaches. Despite such advantages, the use of electrical signals has been mainly focused on the delivery of small drugs, with the administration of protein-based drugs, such as insulin, being addressed only sporadically. However, in recent years, the controlled release of insulin through electrical stimulation has begun to be seriously studied, attracting interest because of its capacity to reduce the incidence of hyperglycemia, which further reduces the potential complications in diabetic patients. This review examines the state of the art of electroregulated insulin delivery systems, discussing the current different approaches existing and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each one of them.

JTD Keywords: Acid) hydrogels, Composites, Controlled-release, Diabetes management, Drug-delivery, Electrochemical glucose sensors, Iontophoresis, Nanoparticles, Recent progress, Transdermal delivery

Electrochemical sensors for real-time detection of several bioanalytes have been prepared by additive manufacturing, shaping non-conductive poly(lactic acid) (PLA) filaments, and applying a physical treatment to create excited species. The latter process, which consists of the application of power discharge of 100 W during 2 min in a chamber at a low pressure of O-2, converts electrochemically inert PLA into an electrochemically responsive material. The electric discharge caused the oxidation of the PLA surface as evidenced by the increment in the quantity of oxygenated species detected by FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Indeed, changes in the surface chemical composition became more pronounced with increasing O-2 pressure. After demonstrating the performance of the chemically modified material as individual dopamine and glucose sensors, multiplexed detection has been achieved by measuring simultaneously the two voltammetric signals. This has been performed by collecting the signals in two different regions, a naked chemically modified PLA for dopamine detection and a chemically modified PLA region functionalized with Glucose Oxidase. These outcomes led to define a new paradigm for manufacturing electrodes for electrochemical sensors based on 3D printing without using conducting materials at any stage of the process.

JTD Keywords: Additive manu f a c turing, Carbon, Conductivity, Degradation, Dopamine, Dopamine detection, Glucose detection, Glucose sensors, Immobilization, Multiplexed detect i o n, Oxidase, Plasma treatment