Ultrasound-assisted insulin delivery and noninvasive glucose sensing

Peptides and proteins are emerging as an increasingly important class of drugs as they become more readily available through improvement in recombinant DNA technology and chemical synthesis techniques. The application of peptides and proteins as clinically useful drugs is, however, seriously hampered owing to the substantial delivery problems requiring frequent injections. Considerable effort has been directed therefore to developing painless and convenient methods for delivery of peptides and proteins. In diabetes, in addition to the need of insulin injections there is a need to develop painless and convenient methods to measure blood glucose. This review describes approaches based on the application of ultrasound for noninvasive and painless transdermal glucose sensing and delivery of insulin.