The animal kingdom continues to inspire groundbreaking technology — this time in South Korea, where researchers have developed a painless drug delivery patch modeled after a bee’s stinger.
For patients with chronic conditions requiring frequent injections, treatments can be painful and inconvenient. To solve this, scientists at Chung An University created wearable microneedles that anchor into the skin like a bee’s sting and provide a continuous release of medication — without discomfort.
How It Works: Nature-Inspired Microneedles
When a bee stings, its barbed stinger stays lodged in the skin, releasing venom even after the bee flies away. Inspired by this mechanism, the research team designed electrospun web microneedles (EW-MNs).
Using an electrospinning process, they coated tiny metal microneedles with nanoscale fibers, creating a fibrous, barbed-like structure that anchors securely to the skin. Attached to an adhesive patch, these soft, breathable microneedles provide steady drug release without irritation.
“Unlike traditional rigid microneedles, which can cause irritation during prolonged use, our EW-MNs are soft, breathable, and remain anchored to the skin just like a bee stinger,” said Professor Wonku Kang of Chung An University’s College of Pharmacy.
Promising Results in Animal Trials
To test the system, the team loaded the patches with rivastigmine, a drug used to treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. In guinea pig models, the patches:
- Released twice as much drug as conventional patches.
- Delivered medicine across a five-fold larger skin area.
- Caused minimal discomfort and only mild, temporary irritation.
The study was published online in Advanced Healthcare Materials on July 31st.
Future Applications Beyond Neurological Diseases
Researchers believe EW-MNs could transform treatment for a wide range of chronic illnesses — particularly benefiting elderly patients, children, and others needing safe, long-term, and needle-free therapies.
“With further development, these EW-MNs could revolutionize drug delivery, allowing patients to receive effective long-term treatments without the fear or discomfort of needles,” said Kang.
This breakthrough highlights biomimicry in medicine — harnessing nature’s designs to improve human health. Just as bee stingers, leeches, and even bats have inspired medical innovations, these microneedle patches bring us one step closer to patient-friendly, needle-free drug delivery.