http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,4931950%255E2862,0... Also in this rag,news that Mrs Petrov may have been more valuable than her husband as she was a cipher clerk with access to VENONA. Jabs by laser free of pain By JEN KELLY, medical reporter 20aug02 A MELBOURNE firm has won worldwide patents for a laser device that could end the need for painful injections. The tiny pain-free laser allows drugs to seep through the skin into the body in minutes without a needle. It means childhood vaccines now injected could be given painlessly with an adhesive strip similar to a nicotine patch in a few years. Biotech company Norwood Abbey believes its device will revolutionise drug delivery worldwide. The hand-held laser will initially be used to administer anaesthetics, but the company hopes to use it for vaccines and painkillers next. The laser removes the top layer of skin so any drug applied immediately afterwards by cream or patch penetrates the skin swiftly. Norwood Abbey marketing director Bernie Romanin said the US drug agency was expected to approve the laser's use with a specific anaesthetic by the end of the year. Applying anaesthetic to the skin usually takes an hour to work but after using the new laser then applying the anaesthetic cream, the skin is numb within five minutes.