Researchers develop patch to overcome needle phobia

THIS make you queasy? A new painless patch could replace the feared needle and deliver medical technology a literal shot in the arm.

The easy way to administer your vaccine. Picture: Georgia Tech/ Gary Meek

AN estimated one in ten people go faint at the thought of an injection. But there may be a cure to this phobia in the form of a painless patch.

Scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a patch consisting of hundreds of microscopic needles that is simply pressed into the skin where they dissolve to deliver vaccines pain and stress free.

The easy way to administer your vaccine. Picture: Georgia Tech/ Gary Meek

Mark Prausnitz, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, whose team is conducting the research told Reuters “the days of long scary needles may soon be over”.

The thumbnail sized polymer patch contains the drug in each of the hollow microneedles that pierce the outermost layer of skin and claim to be “more effective at administering a shot” than regular hypodermic needles, which are inserted deep into tissue.

They also come with other benefit: the ease of use means it could allow people to administer the ‘injection’ themselves. So for anyone who suffers from latrophobia (that’s a fear for doctors) it’ll mean people won’t have to skip vital vaccinations.

The patches could also relieve the burden on healthcare systems and save money because self-administration will dramatically reduce doctor-patient time spent on routine shots.

A close up of the array of dissolvable microneedles found on the patch. Picture: Georgia Tech

The speed of the vaccinations may also help slow the rate of infection as the population can immunise themselves rather than having to wait to see a doctor or go out in public, which could spread the disease.

A further goal of Prausnitz’s team would see the patches being used to aid vaccinations or deliver treatment in places such as third world locations where medical professionals are thin on the ground.

The patches will undergo clinical trials later this year and if they meet the criteria, they’ll be ready for market by 2015.

Originally published as Researchers develop patch to overcome needle phobia