THUWAL, Saudi Arabia — Wearable devices have transformed how people track exercise, sleep, heart rate and other vital signs. Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) are now exploring whether similar technologies could one day help monitor medicines inside the body.
In a new study published in Device, KAUST researchers developed a wearable microneedle patch capable of continuously measuring drug levels beneath the skin and wirelessly transmitting the data to a smartphone in real time. The research points toward a future where wearable technologies could provide continuous information about therapies inside the body, not just physical activity and vital signs.
Today, many medicines that require careful dosing are monitored through periodic blood tests followed by laboratory analysis. These tests provide only a snapshot of drug levels at a particular moment and can take time to process. The KAUST platform was designed to explore whether continuous monitoring could provide a more complete picture of how medicines move through the body over time.
The device uses an array of tiny microneedles that access interstitial fluid just beneath the skin. Combined with miniaturized electronics and Bluetooth connectivity, the system continuously measures drug concentrations and displays the information on a smartphone through a lightweight wearable platform.
The researchers demonstrated the technology using vancomycin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat serious infections. Because the drug must be maintained within a relatively narrow concentration range to remain both safe and effective, it provides an ideal test case for technologies designed to continuously monitor medicines.
The complete device weighs just 6.7 grams and combines microneedle sensing, electrochemical biosensors, onboard electronics, wireless communication and smartphone visualization into a single wearable system.
"Wearable technologies have changed the way people monitor many aspects of their health, from physical activity to heart rate and sleep," said Khaled Nabil Salama, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Bioengineering at KAUST and lead author of the study. "This research explores whether future wearable devices could also help us understand how medicines behave inside the body. While the technology is still at an early stage, it demonstrates a new approach to monitoring therapies continuously rather than relying on occasional measurements."
The researchers tested the platform in laboratory experiments and preclinical studies, where it successfully tracked changing drug concentrations over several hours. While further development and clinical validation will be required before the technology could be used in healthcare settings, the findings demonstrate the feasibility of continuous wearable drug monitoring using a minimally invasive sensor platform.
Although demonstrated using an antibiotic, the researchers believe the sensing platform could potentially be adapted in the future for other medicines that require careful dose monitoring, helping support more personalized approaches to treatment.
As the team continues to develop the technology, future research will focus on extending monitoring duration, improving long-term stability and evaluating the platform across a broader range of medical applications.
