Interest in medicine continues to increase due to COVID-19 issue. Interest in the bio and pharmaceutical industries is also increasing worldwide. When we say 'medicine' in general, what comes to mind is the pain relievers or vaccines. However, a new world is opening up for medicine with the advance of science. It is 'electroceuticals'. It's a very unfamiliar term, but let's check how it differs from the existing medicine. In addition, we will examine in detail what advantages it has and whether it is receiving attention from the medical field.



<Limitations of existing medicines>


Generally, the medicines we commonly encounter are divided into chemical drugs and bio drugs. Chemical drugs are the drugs made through a chemical synthesis process, while bio drugs are the drugs produced by microorganisms and cell-culture from tissues. REpresentative chemical drugs are aspirin, an antipyretic and anti-inflammatory analgesic agent, and examples of biomedical drugs are insulin, a therapeutic agent for diabetes, and a vaccine for responding to viral infections. In this way, humans are being helped from chemical drugs and biopharmaceuticals. But these drugs have to be taken regularly, and they also have the disadvantage of having various side effects due to additional chemical reactions in the body.


<New paradigm medicine, Electroeuticals (Electronic medicine)>


The first electronic medicine to compensate the disadvantages of chemical drug and bio-pharmaceuticals was developed by 'Enteromedics' in the United States in 2015. Since this electronic drug was approved by the US FDA, it has become a new paradigm that is actively being developed worldwide. As the name suggests, Electroeuticals are the drugs that treat diseases with electrical signals.

Electroceuticals are divided into electroconvulsive therapy, deep brain stimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation depending on how they are stimulated. And it is also classified into 1 to 3 generations depending on the development process. The first generation of electroceuticals uses a method of giving a simple form of stimulation to the central nerve, and the second-generation of electroceuticals uses a method of applying a complex form of stimulation to the peripheral nerve. Finally, third-generation of electroceuticals is evolving toward providing adjustable stimulation in the form of the most non-invasive wearable.

Unlike chemical and biopharmaceuticals, these electroceuticals rarely have side effects from chemical reaction and have a common advantage that they only need to be inserted into the body once or worn in a wearable form without the need to take them periodically.



The future of our lives that electroceuticals can bring


Although electroceuticals have not been commercialized in earnest, innovative cases have been reported that have cured several diseases. In 2017, researchers from the French National institute of cognitive science reported that they succeeded in awakening the consciousness of a patient who was unconscious in a traffic accident by stimulating the vagus nerve for three months with an electroceutical drug. In addition, in 2016, the UK revealed that overaction bladder syndrome pills were confirmed to reduce bladder contraction signals through electroceuticals.

If these electroceuticals are actually used in life, we will be able to live more comfortable lives in the future. This is because a variety of diseases can be treated with a method that is non-invasive and has few side effects. Even without exercise, you might get a diet effect, suppress aging, and lead a healthy life.

As such, Electroceuticals are a new technology that will benefit our health and life, but on the other hand, it still has problems that must be solved. Typically, in the case of electroceuticals that are directly implanted into the body, the possibility of infection cannot be excluded in the process of implanting or removing the electronic drug into the body, and has a limitation that problems may occur because of malfunction of the machine.