Painless 'microneedle' patch may take the sting out of shots
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 07:56
in Health & Medicine
Good news for people fearful of needles and squeamish of shots: Scientists at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society report the design of a painless patch that may someday render hypodermic needles - as well as annual flu shots - a thing of the past. Lined with tiny "microneedles," these patches could make treatment of diabetes and a wide range of other diseases safer, more effective and less painful. Used as tiny hypodermic needles, they could improve treatment of macular degeneration and other diseases of the eye.