Painful injections may become a thing of the past. A team of researchers at Dr. Stoeber’s lab is looking towards a future where microneedles will completely replace hypodermic needles. A microneedle patch delivers medicine just below the skin surface removing the fear and discomfort of injections. In the video, PhD student Iman Mansoor explains just how painless microneedles are, and the process behind its cost effective fabrication. Ashkan Babaie, researcher of the Stoeber lab, studies the polymer solution and has found something unexpected in its fluid mechanics. This discovery may give the team the ability to manipulate the solvent casting parameters and take them one step closer to refining the microneedle arrays.
Dr. Boris Stoeber’s research is part of the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Group (MiNa). In a recent interview with Ian Bailey from the Globe and Mail, Dr. Stoeber describes the potential for microneedle injection to increase patient compliance and reduce the costs of vaccination in developing economies. Now that tests on mice and rabbits are complete, Dr. Stoeber hopes to take his prototype to the stage of human trails within the next two years.
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These injections won’t hurt a bit. Honest. Ian Bailey, Globe and Mail.
No pain, great gain. Heather Amos, UBC Public Affairs.