To determine the main components of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge (A. membranaceus, Huang Qi), Astragaloside Ⅳ (AⅣ) and Astragalus polysaccharides (AP), to characterize their properties, evaluate their in vivo efficacy, and to analyze drug diffusion using dissolving microneedle (DMN) technology in vivo.

Respectively, AⅣ- and AP-loaded DMNs comprising chitosan (CTS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were prepared via dual-mold forming. Their morphology, mechanical properties, in vivo solubility, and skin irritation characteristics were tested. In vivo efficacy was assessed in cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed mice, in vivo diffusion of AⅣ and AP by DMNs and conventional methods was compared, and the rheological properties of AⅣ-CTS-PVA and AP-CTS-PVA mixtures were measured.

Subcutaneous dissolution and absorption of AⅣ-CTS-PVA and AP-CTS-PVA microneedles (MNs) at low doses (50%–17% of intraperitoneal AⅣ injection and 12%–4% of intravenous AP injection) reduced the spleen index and acid phosphatase activity in immunosuppressed mouse models, increased the thymus index, and achieved equivalent or better systemic therapeutic effects. Compared with injections, AⅣ and AP achieved controllable solid-liquid conversion through delivery with CTS-PVA MNs, resulting in highly localized aggregation within 48 h, reducing the initial explosive effect of the drug, and achieving stable and slow drug release.

The present study enhances our understanding of the efficacy and remote effects of drug-loaded DMNs from a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) perspective, thereby promoting the development of precise and efficient delivery of TCM and further expanding the drug-loading range and application scenarios for DMNs.

To develop a novel diagnostic modality to identify and diagnose stroke in daily life scenarios for improving the therapeutic effects and prognoses of patients.

In this study, 16 stroke patients and 24 age-matched healthy participants as controls were recruited for comparative analysis. Leveraging a portable eye-tracking device and integrating traditional Chinese medicine theory with modern color psychology principles, we recorded the eye movement signals and calculated eye movement features. Meanwhile, the stroke recognition models based on eye movement features were further trained by using random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), decision tree (DT), gradient boosting classifier (GBC), XGBoost, and CatBoost.

The stroke group and the healthy group showed significant differences in some eye movement features (P <.05). The models trained based on eye movement characteristics had good performances in recognizing stroke individuals, with accuracies ranging from 77.40% to 88.45%. Under the red stimulus, the eye movement model trained by RF became the best machine learning model with a recall of 84.65%, a precision of 86.48%, a F1 score of 85.47%. Among the six algorithms, RF and CatBoost performed better in classification.

This study pioneers the application of traditional Chinese medicine's five-color stimuli to visual observation tasks. On the basis of the combined design, the eye-movement models can accurately identify stroke, and the developed high-performance models may be used in daily life scenarios.

To use three-dimensional (3D) printing technology to prepare Dashanzha Wan.

The standard formula proportion of Dashanzha Wan was used to prepare printable materials (normally called the ink) for 3D printing, and different doses and shapes of Dashanzha Wan were prepared. Then, the rheological properties, texture characteristics, scanning electron microscopy, and content of ursolic acid were evaluated.

Dashanzha Wan ink showed good shear thinning properties, which is very suitable for 3D printing. The printed sample had a beautiful and regular shape with high resolution. Meanwhile, ursolic acid content in 3D-printed Dashanzha Wan aligned with the ursolic acid content shown in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China 2020.

The 3D-printed Dashanzha Wan has a better texture, and can be shaped into various shapes according to individual needs, which would increase patients’ interest when taking medicine. Moreover, 3D printing of Dashanzha Wan could be easily integrated into the digital life system, enabling online customization or use at home. This study reveals that 3D printing technology is a promising method for the production of traditional Chinese medicine with personalized appearance, dosage, and texture, which is suitable for a broader population.