Microneedles

Nobody likes needles – at best they’re an unpleasant means to an important end. Microneedle patches could be a painless alternative, and now researchers have developed a way to use them to detect biomarkers at much lower levels without drawing blood.

Engineers at Rice University have designed a new bandage-like microneedle device that could greatly improve access to malaria testing, with the ability to detect key markers of the disease without drawing any blood at all.

We've heard about microneedle patches before, and we've also heard about cheap, disposable paper biomedical testing kits. Japanese scientists have now combined the two, in a paper-backed microneedle patch that measures blood glucose levels.

We've already heard about so-called "microneedle patches" that are used for the painless and sustained release of medication through the skin. Now, MIT scientists have adapted the technology for the detection of spoiled food.

Stem cells are powerful tools that could one day unlock new frontiers in regenerative medicine. Now, a new study has shown that a certain type of stem cell can be delivered into injured tissues with dissolvable microneedles, to heal wounds.

When it comes to safer, less painful, slow-release alternatives to the hypodermic injection of medications, "microneedle patches" show a lot of promise. Now, MIT scientists have adapted the technology for use on plants.

Back in 2015, we heard about a skin patch that had been used to treat diabetes in mice. It's now come a step closer to use on humans, as it's been successfully trialed on diabetic pigs.

In nature, pest insects and other parasites latch onto their hosts by inserting backward-facing barbs into their tissue. Scientists have now copied that strategy, in a system that could someday replace painful hypodermic needles.

MIT researchers have designed a microneedle patch that can administer both a vaccine and quantum dots that sit under the skin for years at a time, essentially storing a person's vaccine history on their own body.

A team at MIT has developed a new capsule that would survive a trip through the stomach and deliver its drug payload to the lining of the small intestine via microneedles.

Although antibiotic levels are currently measured via blood samples, the task could soon be better-managed using a microneedle skin patch.

​For several years now, we've been hearing about "microneedle patches" that deliver medication less painfully and more safely than hypodermic needles. A new take on the technology may allow them to work even better, by copying the structure of venomous snakes' fangs.