Diabetics who routinely prick their fingers to monitor blood-sugar levels and self-administer insulin shots may soon get some relief from a smart patch that performs these necessary tasks.

Painless microneedles on a patch can deliver insulin in response to rising glucose levels. Credit: American Chemical SocietyPainless administration of insulin is effected by a microneedle-array patch that monitors and automatically responds to blood glucose levels. Insulin-carrying, peroxide-reacting polymer pouches loaded onto the needles break apart rapidly and release the insulin in response to rising glucose levels.

Diabetic mice wearing the patch maintained consistent concentrations of insulin in their blood. When these mice received a shot of glucose, their blood sugar levels spiked initially, but then fell to normal levels within two hours.

The skin patch was developed by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences