There’s an old tried and true method of delivering drugs through the skin – the needle stick. But injections are not ideal. They’re uncomfortable at best, painful at worst and for those reasons among others many patients avoid them.

For a group of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students, finding an alternative was no sweat. In fact, that’s the name of their device.

The UNC team was named winners of the 2013 Emerging Issues Prize for Innovation. Now in its third year, the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University offers the prize, to the student team that conceives of and develops an innovative product or tool that could benefit their communities.

Enter No Sweat. The No Sweat medical device delivers a drug by improving on a drug delivery method called ionotophoresis. The technique uses a small electric charge to deliver a drug through the skin. One advantage of ionotophoresis is that it requires no needle sticks. But the direct current used in ionotophoresis can be painful. And some patients who have thicker skin can require longer treatment times, which prolongs the discomfort.

No Sweat improves on ionotophoresis with hot water. Hot water produced within the device opens skin pores. The open skin pores allow a therapeutic to flow more easily across skin layers.

Julian Wooten, leader of the UNC team, says the No Sweat device offers the potential to help diabetics, amputees and those that suffer from excessive sweating. While these patients may use already use Iontophoresis, they may also be enduring pain from technique’s electric current. Wooten says that the No Sweat device can deliver the drug painlessly and more efficiently. This efficiency means treatment requires lower doses of a therapeutic.

The award was announced on Feb. 12 during the Emerging Issues Forum in Raleigh. More than 12,000 people cast a vote for one of the five college finalists from throughout the state. Gov. Pat McCrory presented the award to the UNC team, who won more than bragging rights. As winners of the Emerging Issues competition, the team receives $5,000 for product development; a consultation with Louis Foreman, founder and chief executive of integrated product design and engineering firm Enventys; and one year of public relations support and updates from the Institute for Emerging Issues.