eXtensions - Friday 12 June 2026
By Graham K. Rogers
Senior Year students from the Faculty of Engineering at Mahidol University develop capstone projects at the end of each year. A group of students from the Department of Biomedical Engineering developed a solution for sufferers of gout. Colchicine in pill form may cause side-effects. The students tested a system that used ultrasound to improve transdermal delivery of the drug.
Every year, senior year capstone projects created by students of the Faculty of Engineering are shown at a public event on the Salaya campus. This year it was held at the PMH Conference Center. Many visitors from universities, high schools, and from industry attend. The best projects from each department are presented to a panel of experts. Information about the projects, with some text, plus related diagrams and images, is condensed onto single AO (84.1 x 118.9 cm) sheets. This year 94 groups showed their work.
When I walk round the exhibition hall, some projects will always catch my eye. This year, as well as writing about irrigation canal systems in the north of Thailand, and local aquaculture of Wolffia globosa, I noticed a project on gout: specifically, an investigation into a more effective treatment. A couple of personal reasons came into play here: my father suffered from gout; and I take Colcine (Colchicine) daily, but for a different problem.
Although it is now viewed as a serious affliction, literature, particularly in the 18th and 19 centuries treated this as a comic subject. Swift and Walpole treated the pain as prestige; and Dickens gave his Mr Pickwick a comic appearance as a gout sufferer. The ailment was attributed to his alcohol intake. Among several serious illnesses Dickens himself is believed to have suffered from gout. It was thought that those with gout indulged in good living: particularly rich food and Port wine.
Instead of too much Port, the cause is an excess of uric acid. Gout is a form of arthritis caused by uric acid crystals. There are a number of causes, as well as rich foods and alcohol, including drinks with fructose, excess weight, certain medical conditions, and genetics (Mayo Clinic). Once diagnosed, several treatments are available, including Colchicine which is usually delivered orally: a pill.
There are however, problems with this form of medication. In some patients this may cause gastrointestinal problems, such as excess acid. Clochicine may also cause nausea, vomitting or diarrhea. An alternative delivery method may be better for some patients. The three students in this group set out to see how effective delivery through the skin (transdermal) might be. The students are Nitiyanan Narkjaisue, Pathorn Sornthai, and Naphon Visuthiphol. Their advisors are Dr. Pracha Yambangyang and Dr. Pinunta Nittayacharn. The group collaborated with Dr. Surachai Ngamratanapaiboon of the Faculty of Medicine, Vajira Hospital, Bangkok.
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The Department of Biomedical Engineering at Mahidol University has been working on effective methods for drug delivery for a number of years: the most effective method for a patient's body to absorb a prescribed drug. Transdermal delivery of medicines has been used for centuries. In the late 1970s the USA FDA approved this as a method to deliver prescription medications. To find how to improve the absorption of colchicine, the students tested ultrasound as a way to improve skin permeability.
As it is unwise to test human subjects in initial research, the group set up an experimental method using a pig's ear (Porcine Ear Skin) as this closely resembles human skin. The process mounts the ear skin on a Franz Diffusion Cell: apparatus used to measure the rate ingredients "release and permeate through a barrier"
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Hydrogel was applied and low frequency ultrasound (LFU) was used to enhance the delivery of the colchicine. This is more efficient and provides a non-invasive method for treatment of gout, without the side-effects.
The initial tests with the hydrogel, but without LFU, found that the best colchicine release was at later time points. When LFU was used with the hydrogel, the absorption was improved with a major difference after 30 minutes. Different LFU power outputs were also tested with the best result at 26.6 Watts for 15 minutes. The highest cumulative release was at 6 hours.
The use of hydrogel with the low frequency ultrasound improves skin permeability and allows better delivery of the colchicine through the skin. This non-invasive approach is more efficient than usual delivery methods and is able to reduce the side effects that may be experienced by some patients.
Mahidol Engineering Capstone Projects: Study and Design of Canal System in The Mae Kuang Udom Thara Operation and Maintenance Project
Mahidol Engineering Year 4Capstone Projects on Wolffia Globosa Aquaculture
Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on X (@extensions_th). The RSS feed for the articles is http://www.extensions.in.th/ext_link.xml - copy and paste into your feed reader. No AI was used in writing this item.
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