Micro-needles a safe alternative to hypodermic syringes

New research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester shows that micro-needles may be a safer and less painful method for delivering vaccines and other medicines traditionally administered using a hypodermic syringe.

The micro-needles are designed to avoid impacting pain receptors and blood vessels.

The Gene Delivery Research Group based at the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University and clinicians at Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust established that healthy volunteers reported less pain and sensation when they were injected using an array of micro-needles than when they were injected with a hypodermic syringe. PhD researcher Mohammed Inaam-ul Haq said: "Micro-needles provide a method for delivering medicines into and through skin and our pilot study has shown that volunteers report significantly less pain with a micro-needle."

As part of the research, funded by The British Skin Foundation, volunteers received an injection by one of two types of micro-needle (of two different micro-needle lengths), or a 25-guage (the standard or commonly used size) hypodermic needle and syringe into their buttock. Volunteers were asked to complete a pain scale assessment and describe the injection sensation to gauge the impact of the different injection methods. The hypodermic needle was up to five times more painful than the micro-needles.

Moreover, analysis of how quickly skin repaired after the injections showed that the injection site healed quicker following micro-needle penetration, than when the skin was punctured with the hypodermic needle.

Dr James Birchall, Senior Lecturer at the Welsh School of Pharmacy, said: "Micro-needles are designed specifically to penetrate the outer layer of the skin without impacting on pain receptors and blood vessels. Our pilot study confirms that these devices are likely to be well received by patients and clinicians."