A team of researchers University of South Australia has developed and patented a new technology that allows a better distribution of cosmetics and medicines through the skin.
Dr Nasrin Eskandar Ghouchi – of Ian Wark Research Institute at UniSA and his team are using nanoparticles of silica (essentially sand) to create more durable and cosmetic creams that control drug release through specific layers of the skin. The researchers are now seeking commercial partners to provide the technology to market.
Skin creams are made of emulsions – tiny droplets of oily compounds dispersed in the water , which typically are created using surfactants or detergents, but the Dr Ghouchi – Eskandar and his colleagues have developed emulsions in which silica nanoparticles in the droplets cover place.
Ghouchi – Eskandar says the technology allows greater control over the delivery of drugs through the skin than current methods. He adds that technology is especially beneficial when a medicine must be released at any given time , or if the release of too much medication at once can lead to the accumulation and toxicity.
