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microneedles

New pump to deliver drugs via microneedle patch

We've written about microneedles before. For the past few years, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have been working on a patch of tiny needles that can deliver drugs painlessly and easily.

But the molecules of many drugs are too large to be delivered transdermally (through the skin), which is how conventional patches work, and would not fit through these newer microneedles.

Researchers at Purdue University, however, have developed a new type of pump that should exert enough force to squeeze drugs through microneedle patches, thereby reducing the need (at least in some instances) for injection via those … Read more

Vaccine delivery system dissolves into thin air

A patch comprising hundreds of microscopic needles that dissolve into the skin could enable laypeople to administer vaccines not only easily but also painlessly, according to new research out of Georgia Tech and Emory University.

The patch contains roughly an array made of poly-vinyl pyrrolidone with 100 needles that are just 650 microns long. Once pressed into the skin, the microneedles immediately begin to dissolve in bodily fluids, and only the water-soluble backing remains. (Because the backing alone contains nothing sharp, it can simply be thrown away.)

The patches were studied on mice, and the results appeared online in the journal Nature Medicine. … Read more

Micro injections: Score 1 for needle-phobes

I'll admit that I've never understood the fear of needles. Ever since I was little, I thought it was cool that something could go so deep with only a tiny little sting. My mom told me to think of Strawberry Shortcake, and I'd push out my little chin, watch the needle go in, and cheer.

Yet several people in my life, whose anonymity I'll do them the favor of preserving, practically faint at the mere sight of a needle. Score one for the afflicted, because a new "microneedle patch" supposedly takes the sting out of shots.… Read more