Photos: A new system for painless shots

An array of microneedles. The needles are about a millimeter apart. "If you put them too close together, you get a bed-of-nails effect and no penetration," explained O'Mahony. Drug companies are interested in this because the era of the blockbuster drug may be coming to a close, some fear. As a result, they are all looking at new techniques for delivering drugs to stay ahead of generic drug makers.

Photo by Tyndall