A company behind a "diabetes patch" which will allow insulin-dependent patients to take the hormone painlessly has won national lottery funding for their invention's development.

Starbridge Systems of Swansea hopes that within five years the patch - which looks like a cross between a credit card and a first-aid plaster - will be helping thousands.

The technology could be modified to help other patients who have to use large, unwieldy pumps with tubes and long needles to administer their drugs at home.

The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, funded by the lottery, has awarded the company £140,000 to develop a prototype, hopefully by the end of the year.

The firm believes the principle behind products such as nicotine patches, which release the tobacco ingredient slowly into the bloodstream through the skin, can be applied to treat conditions needing more carefully controlled and precise delivery.

Joseph Cefai, the co-founder and chief executive of Starbridge Systems, explained that the firm was developing tiny pumps able to respond to high-density light bursts.

The system involves the wax in the pumps melting and pushing drugs through tiny needles.

The laser-started pumps will be held in disposable "plasters" measuring about 10cm by 5cm (4in by 2in). These plasters will be controlled by small panels programmed by the patients, to allow doses to be varied according to blood-sugar levels.

Mr Cefai believes the patch will be able to carry up to three days' supply of insulin and will be easy to remove and stick to various parts of the body.

"It will release diabetics from the need to use syringes and needles, enabling them to continuously infuse insulin," he said. "They will be able to lead a normal life."

Technology for diabetics needing to give themselves insulin has improved in recent years.

The self-injecting "pen" and pumps - worn like pagers on belts and attached to a catheter through the skin - have improved quality of life.

Mr Cefai believes his product will add an extra dimension: "Not only will the pump be small, cheap and effective, it will also be simple to use."

Mark White, director of invention and innovation at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, said: "This has the potential to change people's lives."