This open-access review examines topical strategies for delivering antimicrobial peptide medicines to treat chronic wounds, published in August 2026. Chronic wounds represent a significant clinical challenge due to bacterial colonization and biofilm formation that impede healing. The article synthesizes current approaches for applying peptide-based antimicrobials directly to wound sites, focusing on delivery mechanisms that enhance therapeutic efficacy while minimizing systemic exposure. Key considerations include peptide stability, penetration through wound barriers, and maintenance of antimicrobial activity in the moist wound environment. The review evaluates various formulation strategies and device technologies designed to optimize peptide retention and bioavailability at the wound site. Understanding effective topical delivery of antimicrobial peptides is critical for advancing wound care, as these molecules offer advantages including broad-spectrum activity and reduced resistance development compared to conventional antibiotics. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights for researchers and clinicians developing next-generation therapeutics for the growing burden of difficult-to-heal chronic wounds.

The CASMN Microneedle Technology Platform represents an advanced skin-permeation enhancement approach utilizing microneedles typically several hundred micrometers in length. These devices create micron-scale pathways through the stratum corneum while avoiding deeper nerve-rich dermal tissue, significantly reducing discomfort and needle anxiety compared to conventional injections. The platform encompasses three major microneedle classes with six technology variants, each employing distinct mechanisms for drug delivery. Water-insoluble microneedles utilize surface drug coatings for rapid, low-dose release upon insertion, while water-soluble pharmaceutical polymers carry active ingredients within the needle matrix for fast dissolution and payload release. Water-insoluble structures swell post-insertion to form hydrogel pathways enabling diffusion of larger molecules. By combining advantages of injection and transdermal delivery, this technology expands therapeutic opportunities for proteins, peptides, vaccines, DNA, and strongly hydrophilic or lipophilic compounds. The platform also supports cold-chain-independent storage of temperature-sensitive products. Research applications span controlled-release formulations, peptide therapeutics, vaccines, dermatology, photodynamic therapy, and industrial-scale manufacturing, demonstrating the technology's versatility and commercial potential.

DMNs represent a significant advancement in transdermal and transmucosal drug delivery systems for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. The selection of a biocompatible polymer base and its integration with nanotechnology, polymer encapsulation, and microemulsions have resulted in an effective and safe delivery system. Recent advances in DMNs modification, such as controlled release using stimuli-responsive techniques, have expanded the potential of DMNs to deliver a variety of anti-inflammatory agents to organs such as the skin, eyes, joints, and oral mucosa. Despite their promising prospects, several challenges must be addressed to support the clinical translation of DMNs. These challenges include dose consistency, formulation stability, long-term safety evaluation, and the development of sterile and economical large-scale production processes for these vaccines. Furthermore, standardization of testing methods and clear regulations are needed to ensure product quality, safety, and effectiveness. With innovative support in biomaterials and drug delivery technology, DMNs have the potential to become the next generation transdermal therapeutic platform for more effective and patient-centered inflammatory disease management.

Microneedle (MN) technologies offer the opportunity to improve patient access and target delivery of drugs and vaccines to specific tissues. When in the form of skin patches, MNs can be administered by personnel with minimal training, or could be self-administered by patients, which can improve access to medication, especially those usually requiring injection. Because MNs are small (usually sub-millimetre), they can be used for precise tissue targeting. MN patches have been extensively studied to administer vaccines and drugs in preclinical work as well as in multiple clinical trials. When formulated with biodegradable polymer, MNs can enable long-acting therapies by slowly releasing drug as the MNs biodegrade. Targeted drug delivery by hollow MNs has resulted in FDA-approved products that are able to inject vaccines to skin-resident immune cells to improve immune response and to target specific parts of the eye (e.g., suprachoroidal space) for increased efficacy and avoidance of side effects in other parts of the eye. Cosmetic products based on MN technologies are already in widespread use, mostly as anti-aging agents. With extensive research coupled with FDA-approved products, MN technology promises to continue is growth in research leading to products that can benefit patients.

Adaptyx Biosciences has achieved a significant breakthrough in wearable biosensing technology by developing the first continuous cortisol monitoring patch, mirroring the success of continuous glucose monitors over the past decade. Unveiled at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting in New Orleans, the matchbook-sized patch uses aptamer sensors—short strands of synthetic DNA engineered to detect cortisol molecules—to track the stress hormone in interstitial fluid beneath the skin in real time. The device successfully measured cortisol fluctuations throughout the day, capturing its natural rhythms and responding appropriately when volunteers ingested synthetic cortisol, with measurements correlating to gold-standard blood tests. Proof-of-concept studies demonstrated the patch's ability to detect cortisol's low overnight point, sharp morning increase, and disrupted patterns from sleep deprivation. As cortisol regulates metabolism, sleep, immune function, and blood pressure, continuous monitoring could transform stress-related disease management. While the technology requires further development to deliver medically actionable clinical readings, this advancement represents a major milestone the biomonitoring field has pursued for years.

Microneedle technology represents a significant advancement in transdermal drug delivery systems, offering an alternative to traditional injection and oral administration routes. This review synthesizes research on microneedle design, fabrication, and clinical applications, drawing from foundational work by pioneers including Prausnitz, Langer, and Donnelly. Microneedles are miniaturized needle arrays engineered from polymeric materials, hydrogels, and bio-inspired designs that penetrate the skin's outer layers to deliver drugs, vaccines, and proteins directly into tissue. Key innovations include laser-based micromoulding techniques for fabrication, coated microneedle patch systems for immunization, and dissolving microneedle arrays that eliminate sharp waste. The technology addresses critical challenges in biopharmaceutical delivery, particularly for large molecular compounds and vaccines that cannot survive gastric digestion. Recent patents and clinical studies demonstrate microneedles' effectiveness for controlled transdermal delivery while improving patient compliance through painless administration compared to conventional needles. The field continues advancing through development of MEMS-based microneedle arrays and optimization of coating formulations. This emerging technology holds substantial promise for revolutionizing drug delivery across multiple therapeutic areas, from vaccination programs to protein therapeutics, while reducing injection-related complications and enhancing treatment accessibility.

Protein glycosylation, the most prevalent post-translational modification, undergoes significant changes in disease states, making N-glycans promising biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring. While serum N-glycosylation has been extensively studied, interstitial fluid represents an emerging minimally invasive biomarker source, particularly relevant given the clinical success of wearable glucose monitors in diabetes management. Researchers conducted a comparative glycomic analysis of interstitial fluid and matched plasma samples from five healthy volunteers using liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and exoglycosidase digestions. The study revealed that interstitial fluid N-glycome profiles closely mirror plasma profiles for each individual, with only subtle, statistically insignificant differences. Glycosylation patterns demonstrated high individualization, reflecting each person's biological specificity. These findings establish interstitial fluid as a reliable proxy for systemic N-glycosylation, supporting its development as a powerful, accessible matrix for discovering glycan-based biomarkers. The results further validate the creation of minimally invasive and wearable technologies for monitoring glycosylation indicators of disease onset, progression, and treatment response.

Researchers have developed a novel fast-dissolving microneedle patch designed for transdermal delivery of granisetron, an antiemetic medication commonly used to prevent nausea and vomiting. The study, published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation in August 2026, presents comprehensive optimization and evaluation of this innovative drug delivery system. The microneedle patch technology enables bypassing the gastrointestinal tract, potentially improving patient compliance and therapeutic outcomes. The research encompassed both in-vitro and ex-vivo evaluations to assess the patch's efficacy and safety. This advancement is significant because it addresses limitations of conventional oral administration methods, including variable absorption rates and gastrointestinal side effects. Transdermal microneedle delivery represents a promising alternative for patients with difficulty swallowing or those requiring rapid drug absorption. The optimization findings contribute to the expanding field of minimally invasive drug delivery systems, potentially revolutionizing how antiemetic therapies are administered in clinical settings.

The rapid advancement in personalized healthcare has driven the development of wearable biomedical devices for real-time biomarker monitoring and diagnosis. Traditional invasive blood-based diagnostics are painful and limited to sporadic health snapshots. To address these limitations, microneedle-based sensing platforms have emerged, utilizing interstitial fluid (ISF) as an alternative biofluid for continuous health monitoring in a minimally invasive and painless manner. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of microneedle sensor technology, covering microneedle design, fabrication methods, and sensing strategy. Additionally, it explores the integration of monitoring electronics for continuous on-body monitoring. Representative applications of microneedle sensing platforms for both monitoring and therapeutic purposes are introduced, highlighting their potential to revolutionize personalized healthcare. Finally, the review discusses the remaining challenges and future prospects of microneedle technology.

Reliable and continuous access to interstitial fluid (ISF) remains a major challenge for wearable and tissue-embedded biosensing systems. Conventional microneedle-based methods, while widely adopted, often exhibit variable sampling efficiency across different skin types and are prone to performance fluctuations during motion. Herein, we introduce a tissue-embedded thread-based open capillary microfluidics-based sampling that enables minimally invasive, pump-free, and reliable continuous monitoring of small molecules from ISF. The system employs open capillary-driven microfluidic channels in textile threads, which facilitate the partial separation of small molecules from complex biological matrices, mimicking a microdialysis process. The continuous sampling is achieved through evaporation-driven capillary pressure, eliminating the need for an external pump. The experimental results confirm the numerical simulation of diffusion-controlled and capillary-driven transport of analytes in ISF.

Researchers at NC State University have developed an innovative self-powered microneedle patch capable of monitoring health biomarkers without blood draws, batteries, or external devices. The patch operates through a passive osmotic mechanism, consisting of four layers: a polymer housing, gel layer, paper, and swellable microneedles that extract dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) from skin layers. Unlike conventional blood testing, ISF sampling eliminates the need for complex processing of platelets and red blood cells while containing nearly identical biomarkers to blood. In proof-of-concept demonstrations using synthetic skin, the patch successfully collected biomarker samples over periods ranging from 15 minutes to 24 hours. The system functions by allowing ISF to wick through microneedles into absorbent paper, where glycerol in an underlying gel layer creates osmotic pressure to maximize fluid collection. This advancement addresses significant limitations in traditional biomarker testing, offering a less invasive, streamlined alternative that could enhance patient compliance and accessibility to diagnostic monitoring across healthcare settings.

Microneedles are microscale needle-shaped devices that have attracted attention from the biomedical engineering community for transdermal drug delivery, sensing, and vaccine delivery. These devices do not inflict significant discomfort during skin penetration. Microneedles have recently been used to detect physiologically relevant molecules in interstitial fluid for health monitoring. In this review, technical challenges associated with microneedle processing are considered. The mechanical requirements associated with microneedle penetration of the skin are described. The use of polymers, bioceramics, and natural materials in microneedle fabrication is described. Recent uses of microneedles in biosensing, drug delivery, and vaccine delivery are described.

From a design perspective, recent studies underscore the close interplay between MN performance and the mechanical behavior of human skin, which is nonlinear, anisotropic, viscoelastic, heterogeneous, and varying considerably both inter- and intra-patient [35]. This complexity highlights the need for computational models capable of accurately and efficiently predicting the highly nonlinear dynamics of MN-tissue interaction [142]. Such models can inform the optimal design of MN morphology and spatial arrangement to maximize drug delivery efficiency within a constrained surface area. Beyond conventional finite element analyses, emerging machine learning techniques offer significant potential to accelerate computational design through data-driven forward prediction and inverse design [169].

Microneedle technology represents a significant advancement in drug delivery and vaccination, addressing key limitations of traditional administration routes such as oral medications and injections, which suffer from poor bioavailability, patient discomfort, and the requirement for trained medical personnel. Microneedles are microscopic projections that painlessly penetrate the skin's outer layers without triggering nerve endings, creating temporary microchannels that enable therapeutic agents and vaccines to reach deeper skin layers. This approach offers substantial advantages over conventional transdermal delivery systems by bypassing the stratum corneum's strong barrier properties, which typically prevent large macromolecules and hydrophilic compounds from penetrating. For vaccination applications, microneedles prove particularly valuable given the skin's high density of antigen-presenting cells. Evidence demonstrates that microneedle-delivered vaccines can enhance immune response, reduce required dosages, and significantly improve patient acceptance compared to traditional injection methods. The skin's complex anatomy—comprising the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis—provides an ideal target for this technology. By enabling sustained drug release and increased patient compliance while eliminating pain associated with conventional needles, microneedles represent a transformative approach to improving therapeutic delivery and vaccination efficacy.

Microneedle (MN) technology has emerged as a third-generation transdermal system that overcomes this skin barrier through micron-scale projections, typically 25 to 2000 µm in length, that create channels into the viable epidermis without reaching pain-sensitive nerve endings or blood vessels. Despite its potential, no microneedle array patch product for therapeutic drug delivery has received marketing authorization from the FDA or EMA to date.6 This article presents the scientific principles, technological progress, and translational hurdles defining the present state of microneedle research.

Microneedle technology represents a promising third-generation transdermal drug delivery system designed to overcome skin's natural barrier by creating microscopic channels into the epidermis. Six distinct microneedle types—solid, coated, hollow, dissolving, hydrogel-forming, and porous—each provide unique release kinetics tailored to specific therapeutic applications. These arrays enable delivery of large-molecule drugs and biologics that cannot penetrate intact skin, offering a middle ground between oral administration and parenteral products. Despite decades of research and substantial preclinical progress, demonstrating commercial success in diagnostic devices, no therapeutic microneedle patch has yet achieved FDA or EMA marketing authorization. This regulatory gap highlights the ongoing challenges in translating this innovative technology from laboratory to clinical practice.

Wearable and implantable biosensors represent a transformative advancement in personalized cardiometabolic care, extending monitoring capabilities far beyond traditional glucose measurement. This comprehensive review examines cutting-edge biosensing technologies capable of continuously tracking metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory biomarkers. The integration of multimodal sensing platforms with microneedle-based devices enables non-invasive or minimally invasive real-time health monitoring. These innovations facilitate earlier disease detection, improved treatment optimization, and enhanced patient outcomes through continuous physiological data collection. The convergence of wearable and implantable sensor technologies promises to revolutionize preventive medicine and personalized healthcare delivery.

Inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis present significant clinical challenges due to their chronic nature, high recurrence rates, and complex immune mechanisms. Conventional topical treatments suffer from limited bioavailability due to the stratum corneum barrier, while systemic administration risks substantial toxicity. Advanced Drug Delivery Systems (DDS) address these limitations through innovative mechanisms including lipid fusion, barrier hydration, and microchannel creation. These systems enable targeted drug accumulation and controlled release at affected sites using stimuli-responsive and biomimetic strategies. This comprehensive review examines recent progress in novel delivery platforms for inflammatory skin diseases, providing a theoretical foundation for advancing therapeutic approaches from symptomatic management toward precision-based treatments.

Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems are transforming dermal and transdermal therapies by addressing shortcomings of conventional formulations. The stratum corneum acts as a barrier to drug permeation, thus limiting many therapeutically relevant agents, especially hydrophilic and high-molecular-weight compounds. Nanocarriers such as liposomes, ethosomes, transfersomes, nanoparticles, micelles and solid lipid hybrids enhance the solubility, stability and skin penetration of drugs through different permeation routes and allow localized and systemic delivery. These systems can offer improved therapeutic outcomes in preclinical dermatology models, reduced dose frequency and systemic toxicity and thus improved patient compliance. Advanced strategies like stimulus-responsive systems and microneedle incorporation have been developed to improve controlled drug release and transdermal flux of macromolecules. While nanocarrier-based systems offer several advantages over traditional formulations, their mechanisms of skin penetration are complex and often limited to enhancing local drug deposition rather than facilitating the direct passage of intact carriers into systemic circulation.

The 2025 Global Conference on Research and Application of Chinese Herbal Medicine Derived Extracellular Vesicles-like Particles convened in Guangzhou to advance cutting-edge research in plant-derived extracellular vesicles. International scholars exchanged innovations in EV extraction, functional modification, and therapeutic applications across six themed forums addressing basic research, disease treatment, and industrial transformation. Experts discussed standardized separation technologies and engineered modification strategies for treating tumors, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases while identifying critical challenges in large-scale production, quality control, and regulatory compliance. Emerging research directions include cross-kingdom molecular communication, oral nano-delivery systems, and interdisciplinary integration with artificial intelligence. The conference strengthened international academic collaboration, clarified translational pathways for commercialization, and established foundational frameworks for globalizing plant-derived vesicle therapeutics to enhance worldwide healthcare outcomes and modernize traditional Chinese medicine applications.