Atlanta, Ga., Jan 17, 2019 / 17:01 pm
Scientists and researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta are working on a birth control patch that would inject a contraceptive drug into women's skin through biodegradable microneedles.
The quarter-sized patch would be applied to the skin for five seconds, allowing the needles "painlessly" to pierce the skin and break away, remaining in the body to slowly administer the contraceptive hormone levonorgestrel.
Currently, the needles are designed slowly to release the contraceptive hormone over the course of one month, though the team of scientists has said that the goal would be to develop a six-month patch.
In an article on the patch recently published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the authors said it could eventually be used instead of the birth control pill, or other forms of long-term birth control such as hormone shots or implantable devices such as IUDs.