ArticleScience advances2024
Pain-free oral delivery of biologic drugs using intestinal peristalsis-actuated microneedle robots.
Article in Science advances, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed.
- Emerging bioactive microneedle platforms for disease management: From cutaneous disorders to systemic therapeutics.Bioactive materials · 2026Review
- Driving Drugs Deeper: Force-Driven Microneedle Systems for Active Therapy and Their Road Towards Clinical Implementation.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Review
- Hydrogel microneedles functioning in pathological surroundings: where soft materials overcome hard scars.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- Inhaled formulations for bacterial pneumonia: Strategies and advances in drug delivery.Bioactive materials · 2026Review
- A self-triggering and fully sustainable gastric device enabling long-acting oral delivery of macromolecules.Science advances · 2026Article
- Review of Gastrointestinal Capsule Robots: Materials, Actuation, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Emerging Technologies for Oral Peptide Delivery: From Bioinspired Systems to Smart Device-Assisted Drug Delivery.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Microrobots for Precision Diagnosis and Treatment in the Digestive System: A Review of Actuation Mechanisms, Structural Design, Preclinical and Translational Applications.Micromachines · 2026Review
- Chessboard Microneedle Array for Inflammation Regulation via Spatiotemporally Controlled Drug Delivery.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- A Fentanyl-Responsive Microneedle Patch for Harm Reduction.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- AI-Guided 4D Printing of Carnivorous Plants-Inspired Microneedles for Accelerated Wound Healing.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Bionic microneedles: Design inspired by bionics and its applications in medicine.International journal of pharmaceutics: X · 2026Review
- Hydrogel Adhesives for Gastrointestinal Perforation: Design Principles and Applications.Exploration (Beijing, China) · 2026Review
- Ultrasound-sensitive microrobotic sensor with robust anchoring for long-term digestive lesion assessment.National science review · 2026Article
- Tower-shaped super-adhesive microneedles loaded with vitamin A-containing Bletilla striata vesicles: temporally regulated Inflammation resolution and ECM remodeling for scarless wound healing.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Article
- Strategies for overcoming multiple barriers of oral administration of protein and peptide therapeutics.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- From conceptual design to translational progress: Emerging advances in intelligent microneedles for biomedical applications.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Review
- Autonomous Microrobots for Spatiotemporally Active Therapeutic Delivery and Controlled Release.Cyborg and bionic systems (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Rational Design and Responsive Transdermal Cargo Delivery of Microneedles in the Treatment of Melanoma.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- Fluidic microgel assemblies with enhanced oral delivery of biologics alleviate colonic inflammation in murine and canine models.Science advances · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Biologic drugs hold immense promise for medical treatments, but their oral delivery remains a daunting challenge due to the harsh digestive environment and restricted gastrointestinal absorption. Here, inspired by the porcupinefish's ability to inflate itself and deploy its spines for defense, we proposed an intestinal microneedle robot designed to absorb intestinal fluids for rapid inflation and inject drug-loaded microneedles into the insensate intestinal wall for drug delivery. Upon reaching the equilibrium volume, the microneedle robot leverages rhythmic peristaltic contraction for mucosa penetration. The robot's barbed microneedles can then detach from its body during peristaltic relaxation and retain in the mucosa for drug releasing. Extensive in vivo experiments involving 14 minipigs confirmed the effectiveness of the intestinal peristalsis for microrobot actuation and demonstrated comparable insulin delivery efficacy to subcutaneous injection. The ingestible peristalsis-actuated microneedle robots may transform the oral administration of biologic drugs that primary relies on parenteral injection currently.
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