A DIY injection could soon grant women long-term protection from pregnancy without the need for procedures or pills.
The jab, developed by US scientists, contains microscopic crystals that assemble into a larger under the skin, releasing hormones that stop a woman releasing an egg for fertilisation.
When injected into the abdomen, the hope is could ward of pregnancy for long periods like months or years the experts, from Mass General Brigham and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said.
Preliminary studies in rats showed that the jab was safe and likely to be effective at preventing pregnancy.
The team based the new technology on the same principle as existing long-lasting contraceptive implants that are inserted by medics via an incision into the arm.
These implants release a steady stream of hormones into the blood stream to stop ovulation — and are 99 per cent effective for three years, when they need to be replaced.
However, patients must visit a doctor, nurse of family planning specialist in order to have the implant fitted.
The scientists behind the new injection hope it will make long-lasting contraception more accessible, as well as help women who might forget to take a daily pill.
Scientists have developed a new type of contraceptive that patients could one day inject themselves. Stock image
Experts from Mass General Brigham and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, developed an injectable liquid that can mimic the traditional implant. Pictured: an illustration showing how the technology works
Dr Giovanni Traverso, of Mass General Brigham, and senior author of a study revealing the technology, said the main challenge was making a solution that could be comfortably injected by a patient at home.
‘Our engineering challenge was finding a way to maximise comfort for patients by using smaller needles, which cause less bruising or bleeding,’ he said.
‘We anticipate that SLIM [the injection] could be a new addition to the current suite of family planning options available to women, especially for people in low-resource settings where options for contraception and health care facilities are limited.’
The team is now planning further experiments to optimise the technology, taking into account factors like dosing and how long it can last in the body.
They also want to explore if the jab could also be used for other drugs that need to released over a long period of time in the body.
The results of their study have been published in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering.
The latest data from NHS England recorded 102,000 women were given the contraceptive implant between April 2023 and March 2024.
Women aged 25-to-34 were the most likely to use the implant, accounting for almost 35,000 of the total, the largest of any age group.
Studies show that around a tenth of those who use The Pill as their main method of contraception regularly forget to take it.
