File this under Wouldn't It Be Great If: Wouldn't it be great if instead of having to use needles to manage diabetes you could use slap on a little patch?

Researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State in Raleigh think so, and to that end they are developing a so-called 'smart insulin patch.'

The Patch

This smart insulin patch is, on appearance, nothing more than a little, tiny piece of tape that can be applied to the skin.

Look much more closely and you would see, on the skin-side, in excess of one hundred microneedles.

These microneedles are smaller in diameter than the average eyelash (but substantially shorter!), and they function as little reservoirs holding both insulin and glucose-sensing enzymes.

When this detects rising sugar levels in the blood, insulin is discharged to return the blood sugar to the ideal level.

The manner in which the patch functions is designed to mimic the way the body beta cells in the pancreas work on a person without diabetes-- namely, these cells monitor the blood sugar levels and when needed, release insulin into the bloodstream.

"We have designed a patch for diabetes that works fast, is easy to use, and is made from nontoxic, biocompatible materials," says study co-author Zhen Gu. "The whole system can be personalized to account for a diabetic's weight and sensitivity to insulin."

Thus far tests are pre-clinical. But researchers have had success testing the patch on mice with type 1 diabetes, claiming the patch is currently able to manage blood sugar for several hours. The idea is to make the patch last a couple of days before needing to be replaced.

The team has detailed their work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

(Photo credit: Zhen Gu)