Forget phobia-inducing needles. Scientists are developing skin patches that can deliver most drugs without inflicting pain and suffering.

Information technology giant Hewlett Packard announced Tuesday that it had employed its ink-jet printer cartridge technology to create a patch that releases drugs through the skin in a controlled and painless way.

Testosterone patches are already used to deliver the hormone into a person's bloodstream in a controlled way and over an extended period of time.
(CBC)

The company said it has licensed the patch to Crospon, an Irish medical device developer, who will manufacture the invention and make it available to pharmaceutical firms.

The skin patch uses tiny needles that barely penetrate the skin, allowing medication to enter the bloodstream in precise doses.

Patches are already sold to people who want to quit smoking or need a hormone boost. But they have not proven effective in delivering all drugs because the skin acts as a natural barrier to many chemicals, the company said.

HP's announcement follows research on a similar needle-free drug delivery system developed at the University of California in 2005. Called a microjet, it's a transducer-based pulsed device that allows the controlled and shallow delivery of drugs through the skin.

It works by delivering a jolt of electricity to a kind of plunger that forces the drug from a reservoir into the skin at a high velocity. Like the HP patch, the microjet acts like a printer, printing drugs precisely into the skin. It can be used over a long period of time for sustained drug delivery — and it allows patients to forgo painful injections.