Japanese prof invents painless needles

KYOTO, Japan, March 4 (UPI) -- A Japanese professor has come up with a method of delivering vaccines and drugs that he says is completely painless.

Kanji Takada of Kyoto Pharmaceutical University says the device he developed uses micro needles that don't break the dermis or second layer of skin, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

The needles are made out of a water-soluble polymer that dissolves when pressed into the epidermis, the very outer layer of skin.

Other researchers tried to use sugar to make micro needles but their efforts failed because because sugar degrades at temperatures above 100 degrees centigrade, Takada says.

He says his new injection system will be available for use in Japanese hospitals within two years.