Laser could end pain of needles

Biotech company Norwood Abbey, of Melbourne, Australia, has won worldwide patents for a laser device that could end the need for injections. The hand-held laser allows drugs to seep through the skin into the body in minutes without a needle. The laser removes the top layer of skin so a drug applied immediately afterwards by cream or patch swiftly penetrates the skin.

The laser will be used initially to administer anaesthetics, but the company hopes to adapt it for vaccines and analgesics.

Norwood Abbey marketing director Bernie Romanin said the US FDA was expected to approve the laser's use with a specific anaesthetic by the end of the year.