Close to the skin
"For information on risks and side effects, please consult your doctor or pharmacist". This sentence could soon become superfluous, thanks to the concept of „Hautnah“ (close to the skin). Instead of conventional forms of medicine (tablets or pills) passing through the digestive tract and thereby triggering undesirable side-effects, a more direct route for active medical ingredients may soon be available: „Hautnah“, a diploma project by Anna-Lena Moeckl, graduate from the University of Art and Design Offenbach am Main, is a method in which individually dosed medicine is administered to the patient’s skin with a rolling perforator. The active ingredients are applied as a temporary structure upon the skin, leaving a colourful visualisation. This fades as the active ingredient is gradually absorbed into the body, making the dosage and handling of medication more comprehensible for the user. Adapted to individual needs, the rolling perforator can be refilled in a pharmacy with personalised medicine, which are produced in a 4D printing on demand—an important step in the future of personalised healthcare, and a forward-looking strategy to reduce the large amount of waste from overproduced and no longer needed medicine.
