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Innovative Long-Acting Contraceptive Implant Revolutionizes Family Planning

Researchers from Mass General Brigham and MIT have introduced a groundbreaking long-acting contraceptive implant that utilizes tiny needles for administration, aiming to enhance patient comfort and adherence to medication regimens.

This development, demonstrated in preclinical models, sets the stage for creating self-administered contraceptive injections that mimic the sustained drug release typically seen in surgically implanted devices.

The newly proposed method is expected to decrease the frequency of self-injections, offering significant advantages to individuals with limited access to healthcare providers and medical facilities. The findings are detailed in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering.

“The dimensions of the needle and the viscosity of the liquid are critical factors for making these injectable solutions commercially viable,” stated senior author Giovanni Traverso, MB, PhD, MBBCH, from the Division of Gastroenterology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, part of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. “Our goal was to enhance patient comfort with the use of smaller needles, which reduce the occurrences of bruising and bleeding, while maintaining a low viscosity that allows for straightforward hand-syringe application.”

Conventional contraceptive implants consist of small, flexible rods that are surgically inserted beneath the skin to provide a gradual release of medication over time, therefore alleviating concerns over daily pill intake. However, the surgical aspect can be a barrier for many patients seeking contraceptive options.

The team led by Traverso has pioneered a method to administer the contraceptive drug levonorgestrel (LNG) via Self-assembling Long-acting Injectable Microcrystals (SLIM). This innovative approach employs microcrystals that, upon injection, undergo a solvent exchange process to form a cohesive solid implant that gradually releases the drug as its surface dissolves. This unique assembly method allows for the use of significantly smaller needles compared to other self-administering systems.

Future research will focus on refining the dosing strategies, duration of drug release, and overall injection process for the SLIM technology, including investigations into its performance within the human body. There is also potential for the SLIM design to be utilized with other hydrophobic drugs, which represent a large segment of new pharmaceuticals in development. The team aims to explore how various drug characteristics influence the effectiveness of the SLIM system.

“We believe that SLIM could significantly broaden the range of family planning alternatives available to women, particularly in low-resource environments where contraception and healthcare options are scarce,” noted Traverso.

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