Device from Nemaura Pharma may help with diabetic patients’ fear of needle pain

According to a recent clinical trial performed by Nemaura Pharma on type 1 diabetic patients, its Memspatch Insulin Micro-needle Device (IMD) may offer relief to patients with a fear of needles and injections.

The study included 18 type 1 diabetic patients and was performed at a single site over two periods. A pain assessment, using a Numeric Pain Rating Score system 0–10 (no pain to most intense), was performed on each visit to evaluate the severity and quality of the pain.

When recording their experiences of pain, patients were asked to consider the intensity, sharpness and itchiness immediately after administration. In the study, when treatment was applied to the arm or thigh, pain intensity and sharpness from the pen injector reached five on the rating score, whereas the Memspatch IMD recorded zero or one.

Nemaura reports it is the design of the IMD that enables this reduction in pain level. As the device is held flat against the skin, skin penetration is kept to a depth of 2–4 mm.

“Needle phobia is a major barrier to health. We have looked carefully at the human factors restricting diabetics wanting to self-administer insulin, and have developed the Memspatch IMD to avoid puncture pain, and to improve treatment compliance,” said Dr Faz Chowdhury, CEO of Nemaura. “Over 50% of adults with type 2 diabetes delay starting insulin due to needle fear, and over 90% feel fear reactions every time they inject.”

Further tests are planned to evaluate the device later this year with other medicines alongside insulin.