New US$1 birth-control patch works in seconds and lasts for a month, researchers claim
- The patch, which is a few years from release, can be removed after five seconds of application
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a low-cost contraceptive patch for women that uses microneedles and allows the user to wear it for seconds and get a dose that lasts for a month.
When the patch is applied for several seconds, microscopic needles break off on the surface of the skin and administer the contraceptive drug levonorgestrel over a period of time, according to a study published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal “Nature Biomedical Engineering”.
Researchers said they expect the patches, which are at least a few years away from being available to consumers, could be mass-produced for US$1 each.
“Our goal is for women to be able to self-administer long-acting contraceptives with the microneedle patch that would be applied to the skin for five seconds just once a month,” the study’s author Mark Prausnitz, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, said in a statement.
Unlike some contraceptive patches on the market that require the user to wear them continuously, the new patch’s backing can be discarded once the microscopic needles break off into the skin, researchers said.