A Sweet Solution To Scary Needles

Scientists have developed a safe and painless microneedle patch that is made out of maltose sugar solution.

AsianScientist (Sep. 18, 2018) – Children and adults afraid of needles may soon have less to be fearful of when they visit the clinic. Researchers have devised a microneedle patch that can be used to deliver drugs through the skin. The findings are published in Micro & Nano Letters.

Needle phobia is a common fear for both children and adults, affecting approximately two in ten individuals. While efforts have been made to deliver drugs orally, some medications are more effective when administered via injection.

Hence, researchers led by Assistant Professor Werayut Srituravanich of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand have developed a microneedle patch that can be cheaply produced and is safe to use. Existing microneedle patches in international markets are made from biodegradable polymers which slow down the speed at which medication is delivered via the skin. However, such polymer-based patches can be expensive to produce. The microneedle innovation by Werayut, on the other hand, is made from maltose sugar solution, which is much cheaper to obtain.

“Research indicates that between 10-20 percent of people have needle phobia, 50 percent of which are children. Microneedle patches work because the needles are less than one millimeter in depth and do not reach the patient’s pain receptor level,” said Srituravanich.

“The application process is simple. Patients can place the patch on the skin, then apply light pressure for five minutes, delivering the medication. This is much faster, compared to the biodegradable polymer, which requires up to 20 minutes of constant pressure for the drugs to dissolve. Overall, the patch can be used by nurses and reduces the amount of vaccine needed by more than 30 percent,” he added.

A patent for the microneedle patch has been filed by Chulalongkorn University’s Intellectual Property Institute.

In addition to the microneedle patches, Srituravanich is looking into the development of other forms of vaccination tools, such as hollow syringes and silk microneedles. He pointed out that microneedle research can be improved to deliver a wide range of medication and be applied in a variety of health-related disciplines.

Collaboration with professors from other faculties at Chulalongkorn University are already underway to extend the research and explore the use of microneedles with vaccines, insulin, drugs, cosmetics and Thai herbs.

“Apart from the microneedle, the research operation center at the Department of Mechanical Engineering is also exploring other micro-level research applicable to medicine. One recent innovation, for example, is the Needle Guide, which can be used with ultrasound machines and for people with glaucoma,” he said.



The article can be found at: Chiaranairungroj et al. (2018) Fabrication of High-density Microneedle Masters Towards the Commercialization of Dissolving Microneedles.

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Source: Chulalongkorn University.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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