Update: Micro-pumps for micro-needle patches!

Patch Pump for Vaccine Delivery (Purdue University)

Remember a few weeks ago, I linked to an article about micro-needle patches? They were an ingenious new way to deliver vaccines easily (and painlessly). However, this new article mentions a problem not stated in the previous one; Large molecules of many drugs do not readily dissolve out of the needles and into the skin. For that, they needed a pump of some sort to drive the medicine into the skin. Scientists at Purdue University have done just that! The mechanism seems complicated (and slightly worrisome if something were to break in the pump), but it's still in the testing phase, so lets just get excited about it!

New pump created for microneedle drug-delivery patch.

No More Needles? Awesome.

Vaccinations have just gotten simpler. A patch is being developed that has hundreds of tiny micro-needles that dissolve into the skin, taking the vaccine with it into the blood stream. Simple, pain-free, and, if studies on mice have any indication, more effective at immunizing. Hopefully, this becomes available before the next swine/bird/insertanimalhere flu epidemic comes around.

Additional Links:

BBC News: Vaccine Patch may Replace Needles

Hate Needles? Flu Patch May Take Sting Out of Your Fears

Macroflux® Microprojection Array Patch Technology: A New and Efficient Approach for Intracutaneous Immunization (Scientific Article)