A new contraceptive patch – which will stop women from getting pregnant for up to six months – has been devised, which only needs to be applied to the skin for a few seconds to be effective. The “pain-free” contraceptive patch releases a birth control hormone into the skin, proving to be a long-term alternative to the pill, injection or implanted device.
Lead author of the study from Georgia Tech in Atlanta said: “The concentration levels of the drug are higher than that known to cause contraception in humans. “ 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.” As mentioned, it is hoped that the patch could provide contraception for up to six months once clinical tests have been completed on minimizing skin irritations and on a larger patch that has been…
