Robot jaws shows medicated chewing gum could be the future

Date:
July 14, 2020
Source:
University of Bristol
Summary:
Medicated chewing gum has been recognized as a new advanced
drug delivery method but currently there is no gold standard for
testing drug release from chewing gum in vitro. New research has
shown a chewing robot with built-in humanoid jaws could provide
opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to develop medicated
chewing gum.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Medicated chewing gum has been recognised as a new advanced drug delivery method but currently there is no gold standard for testing drug release
from chewing gum in vitro. New research has shown a chewing robot with
built-in humanoid jaws could provide opportunities for pharmaceutical
companies to develop medicated chewing gum.


==========================================================================
The aim of the University of Bristol study, published in IEEE Transactions
on Biomedical Engineering, was to confirm whether a humanoid chewing
robot could assess medicated chewing gum. The robot is capable of
closely replicating the human chewing motion in a closed environment. It features artificial saliva and allows the release of xylitol the gum to
be measured.

The study wanted to compare the amount of xylitol remaining in the gum
between the chewing robot and human participants. The research team also
wanted to assess the amount of xylitol released from chewing the gum.

The researchers found the chewing robot demonstrated a similar release
rate of xylitol as human participants. The greatest release of xylitol
occurred during the first five minutes of chewing and after 20 minutes
of chewing only a low amount of xylitol remained in the gum bolus,
irrespective of the chewing method used.

Saliva and artificial saliva solutions respectively were collected after
five, ten, 15 and 20 minutes of continuous chewing and the amount of
xylitol released from the chewing gum established.

Dr Kazem Alemzadeh, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who led the research, said: "Bioengineering has been used
to create an artificial oral environment that closely mimics that found
in humans.

"Our research has shown the chewing robot gives pharmaceutical companies
the opportunity to investigate medicated chewing gum, with reduced
patient exposure and lower costs using this new method." Nicola West, Professor in Restorative Dentistry in the Bristol Dental School and
co-author, added: "The most convenient drug administration route to
patients is through oral delivery methods. This research, utilising
a novel humanoid artificial oral environment, has the potential to revolutionise investigation into oral drug release and delivery."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bristol. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kazem Alemzadeh, Sian Bodfel Jones, Maria Davies, Nicola West.

Development of a Chewing Robot with Built-in Humanoid Jaws to
Simulate Mastication to Quantify Robotic Agents Release from
Chewing Gums Compared to Human Participants. IEEE Transactions on
Biomedical Engineering, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2020.3005863 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200714101226.htm

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