Researchers developed painless micro needle drug monitoring system

Scientists have developed a micro needle drug monitoring system in hopes of reducing pain during drug measurements and replace expensive blood draws.
•    Scientists at the University of British Columbia and the Paul Scherrer Institute(PSI) in Switzerland created a new system that consists of half-millimeter long needle-like projections that do not penetrate the patient's skin unlike the standard hypodermic needle.
•    During medical treatment, the small, thin patch is pressed against the patient's arm to painlessly measure the drugs in the bloodstream without the need for drawing blood.
•    Micro needles are generally painless as they are designed to pierce the outer layer of the skin and not the inner layers, such as the epidermis and the dermis, which contain nerves, blood vessels and active immune cells.
•    Ranamukhaarachchi and his team created the microneedle system to monitor the antibiotic vancomycin, which is used to treat serious infections and is administered via an intravenous line.