Visualizing Dermal Micropores With OCT

December 11, 2023 updated by: Nicole K Brogden, University of Iowa

Evaluating Racial and Ethnic Differences in Dermal Micropore Formation Using Optical Coherence Tomography

The study to be performed will allow visualization of skin micropores following microneedle treatment in healthy subjects in differing racial/ethnic backgrounds.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Transdermal drug delivery (by way of patches that adhere to the skin and deliver drug in a time-dependent fashion) allows for systemic drug delivery through the skin, while avoiding many of the side effects and challenges associated with oral or intravenous drug delivery. One significant challenge limiting the number of drug compounds that can be transdermally delivered is the hydrophobic nature of the skin, which provides a highly efficient barrier against the absorption of drug molecules. Micropatches are small patches with tiny projections that are a minimally invasive way to allow drug molecules to cross the skin by creating micron-sized channels (also called micropores) in the skin, thereby increasing its permeability. Micropatches have been safely used in hundreds of patients for administration of drugs and vaccines through the skin. Studies have demonstrated that micropatch treatment is relatively painless and well-tolerated by most patients.

Following micropatch treatment, the skin must heal the micropores. In young healthy individuals this process takes approximately 48 to 72 hours when the skin is covered by an occlusive patch. One of the factors that may also affect micropore healing time is the depth of the micropores in the skin immediately after micropatch treatment. There are almost no data available regarding how race and ethnicity affect the depth of micropores after micropatch application. It is important to study differences in micropore depth so investigators can better understand why rates of micropore closure vary in different racial/ethnic populations. Without this information the potential for variability in drug delivery is high.

In this study the investigators will objectively measure skin color with a colorimeter to characterize the epidermal properties of individuals of different self-identified races and ethnicities. Measurements of trans-epidermal water loss will be used to evaluate formation of micropores in the skin; electrical impedance measurements will be used to estimate rates of micropore closure. The investigators will visualize the micropores created after micropatch treatment with the use of an optical coherence tomography instrument that will allow for calculation of epidermal thickness and micropore depth. All of these skin characteristics can be measured using noninvasive methods that are quick and painless.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
49

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Iowa
      • Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 52242
        • University of Iowa

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria: Subjects will be healthy men and women between 18 and 45 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Unable to give consent
  2. Severe general allergies requiring chronic treatment with steroid or antihistamines
  3. Previous adverse reaction to microneedle insertion
  4. History of keloids
  5. Known allergy or adverse reaction to medical tape/adhesive, or aloe vera
  6. Any inflammatory diseases of the skin (including but not limited to: psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and blistering skin disorders)
  7. Any disease associated with altered immune function (including but not limited to: rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, lupus, HIV/AIDS)
  8. Any subject taking medication that impairs the immune system (including but not limited to corticosteroids, TNF inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, chemotherapy agents)
  9. Any current malignancy or history of malignancy present at the treatment sites
  10. Eczema or scaling present at any treatment site; any current inflammation or irritation present at the treatment sites (including but not limited to: rash, inflammation, erythema, edema, blisters)
  11. Uncontrolled mental illness that would, in the opinion of the investigator, affect the subject's ability to understand or reliably participate in the study
  12. Subjects taking medications in the following therapeutic classes will be excluded: HMGCoA reductase inhibitors ("statins"), oral or topical steroids (at the local treatment site), oral antibiotics, topical antibiotics at the local treatment site, topical antihistamines at the local treatment site, beta-blockers, and systemic or topical NSAIDS/analgesics. A subject who has recently used oral or topical steroids, antibiotics, antihistamines, or analgesics may be enrolled if more than 5 elimination half-lives of the drug have passed since the last dose (this is a typical parameter in pharmacokinetics, when it is assumed that ~97% of drug in the systemic circulation is eliminated after 5 half-lives). The estimated elimination half-life for any specific drug will be obtained from standard pharmacy references such as Micromedex or other comparable drug information references.
  13. Any subjects that are pregnant/nursing will be excluded from participation.
  14. Subjects will also be excluded for any condition that would, in the opinion of the PI or physician, place the subject at an unacceptable risk of injury or render the subject unable to meet the requirements of the protocol.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Micropatch application
All participants will complete this arm. Three sites each on the upper arm, volar (inner) forearm, and palm will be identified. Baseline measurements of trans-epidermal water loss, electrical resistance, and color will be made at each site. Baseline optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans will be made at each site. Color will only be measured at baseline. One site at each location will undergo the following interventions: 1) micropatch application and an occlusive covering, 2) micropatch application, but remain uncovered, 3) occlusive covering, no micropatch application. Micropatch application will only occur on the first day and does not contain any drug substance. Trans-epidermal water loss and electrical resistance are re-measured after micropatch removal, along with an additional OCT scan. Electrical resistance and OCT scans will be repeated at all sites for 2 days. Measurements from the 2nd and 3rd sites allow each subject to serve as their own control in data analysis.
Other: Micropatch (microneedle patch)
Each micropatch contains an array of 50 microneedles.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Micropore Depth, Upper Arm
Time Frame: Post microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 5 minutes
The depth of the micropore created at the upper arm will be measured using OCT scans. These data are only collected from the micropatch sites. Data will be calculated as the mean of micropore depth measured at all micropatch sites.
Post microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 5 minutes
Micropore Depth, Volar Forearm
Time Frame: Post microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 5 minutes
The depth of the micropore created at the volar forearm will be measured using OCT scans. These data are only collected from the micropatch sites. Data will be calculated as the mean of micropore depth measured at all micropatch sites.
Post microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 5 minutes
Micropore Depth, Palm
Time Frame: Post microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 5 minutes
The depth of the micropore created at the palm will be measured using OCT scans. These data are only collected from the micropatch sites. Data will be calculated as the mean of micropore depth measured at all micropatch sites.
Post microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 5 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Trans-epidermal Water Loss, Upper Arm
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0) and post-microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 1-3 minutes
The percent change in trans-epidermal water loss from baseline to post-micropatch application at the upper arm sites will be calculated. These data are only collected from the micropatch sites. Percent change is calculated as (trans-epidermal water loss after micropatch application/baseline trans-epidermal water loss) x 100. Data will be calculated as the mean of measurements from the micropatch sites at the upper arm.
Baseline (Day 0) and post-microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 1-3 minutes
Change in Trans-epidermal Water Loss, Volar Forearm
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0) and post-microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 1-3 minutes
The percent change in trans-epidermal water loss from baseline to post-micropatch application at the volar forearm sites will be calculated. These data are only collected from the micropatch sites. Percent change is calculated as (trans-epidermal water loss after micropatch application/baseline trans-epidermal water loss) x 100. Data will be calculated as the mean of measurements from the micropatch sites at the volar forearm.
Baseline (Day 0) and post-microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 1-3 minutes
Change in Trans-epidermal Water Loss, Palm
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0) and post-microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 1-3 minutes
The percent change in trans-epidermal water loss from baseline to post-micropatch application at the palm sites will be calculated. These data are only collected from the micropatch sites. Percent change is calculated as (trans-epidermal water loss after micropatch application/baseline trans-epidermal water loss) x 100. Data will be calculated as the mean of measurements from the micropatch sites at the palm.
Baseline (Day 0) and post-microneedle application (Day 0), approximately 1-3 minutes
Skin Color
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0), <30 seconds
Lightness/darkness of the skin color is measured with a tristimulus colorimeter and reported in a unitless scale called the CIELAB color space (sometimes also called the L*a*b* color space). In this study we measured the value called L*. The L* values can range from 0 (black) to 100 (white). Higher L* values denote lighter skin, while lower L* values denote darker skin. The L* measurement is an objective measurement of skin color and there is no "better" or "worse" values of L*. The L* values are collected from the all 9 sites (3 each at upper arm, volar forearm, and palm) and the measurements are averaged together and reported as the mean.
Baseline (Day 0), <30 seconds

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Iowa

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Nicole Brogden, PharmD, PhD, University of Iowa

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 29, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 29, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 29, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 29, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 30, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 28, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 11, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2020010229

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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