Australian scientists working towards world-first IVF treatment without needles

Australian scientists are working on a revolutionary IVF treatment that would eliminate the use of needles.

About 100,000 Australians pursue IVF every year. According to fertility experts, the average cycle can involve anywhere from 14 to 100 needles.

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The teams at Melbourne’s RMIT University and medical tech company GonGlobal want to eliminate them altogether.

The Victorian government has teamed up with RMIT to inject $1 million into a technology that would allow IVF patients to inhale fertility medication.

It would involve a device that delivers five key fertility drugs via a hand-held inhaler, which directs a fine mist into the airways and lungs, before entering the bloodstream.

RMIT University’s Professor of Chemical Engineering Leslie Yeo described the potential treatment as “non-invasive and a lot less painful”.

The GonGlobal team is confident they can develop an inhaler prototype for clinical trials within the next two years because they are working with drugs that are already well-tested and approved.

It is expected the cost won’t be any different to injectable drugs.

“We think it’s very promising in terms of the technology that could make it to market,” RMIT’s Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond told 9News.

Victorian mum Nicky Burnett went through IVF to have her daughter more than a decade ago.

She told 9News the constant injections made her feel like a “pin cushion”.

“Some days it can be one injection, some days it can be up to three injections,” Burnett said.

“You can definitely feel like a pin cushion and you are black and blue by the end of this process.

“To have one thing that’s actually going to make it easier and more enjoyable, I think it is an amazing step forward for so many families.”