Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

09 October 2025

3-minute read

By integrating nanomedicine with smart drug delivery systems, Kruti Naik, PhD student at Wits University at the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) is shaping a future where eye care will be precise, less invasive, and potentially lifesaving.

She is pioneering new ways to treat eye infections and vision-related diseases. Her research could transform the way medication is delivered to the eye – moving beyond traditional eye drops to innovative methods like microneedle eye-patches and hydrogels.

Kruti was inspired to focus her PhD research on ocular drug delivery in the research unit at Wits under mentorship where they have a “very collaborative and team-driven environment” that allowed for the creation of the project.

Many people are familiar with eye drops, but not with microneedle patches. Kruti explained that these patches work like a contact lens. While eyedrops deposit less than 5% of the drug into the eye, this system will allow the contact lens to dissolve directly and fully into the eye, combatting leakage and wastage, and permitting longer and more precise delivery of the medication into the eye.

With accessibility being a big issue in Africa, Kruti said that this “was one of the core motivations” of the project. A lot of meds nowadays are biologic in composition, so they need to be refrigerated. Africa has limited access to cold chains and stable electricity, but with the new ocular drug delivery system, meds will remain stable at room temperature and require less application, making them easier to transport and leading to less wastage and reduced cost.

Together with a university in Belfast, Kruti and her team are also exploring hydrogels that can deliver medication continually, thereby altering treatment for chronic diseases like HIV or TB. Working as “injectable implants,” these hydrogels release the drugs gradually over a long time, allowing users to reinject every few months instead of daily. Kruti emphasized the secondary benefits of patient drug endurance and of reduced drug resistance.

With Africa facing high rates of blindness and vision problems linked to diseases like diabetes, hypertension, HIV and TB, Kruti’s work offers hope for more affordable, effective, and accessible treatment. “A lot of the technologies are translatable into different diseases,” she stated, making it easy to treat a variety of eye conditions through this system.

Kruti shared the message that eye health should be taken seriously and maintained and not overlooked until the point when the damage is no longer treatable. Seek medical advice for even small infections as early as possible for a better quality of life. “People need to protect their eyes the way they protect their hearts,” she concluded.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Ahmad Waja and Kruti Naik.