While it’s hard to say that anyone really enjoys a visit to the doctor, there are some parts of it that we dread more than others. Blood pressure? Fine. Reflexes? Sure. Heartbeat? The stethoscope’s a little cold, but nothing you can’t handle.

Annual flu shot?

Well, that holds about as much appeal as it did when you were 6, meaning none at all.

Shots and their respective needles are regarded as necessary evils, but that may be about to change. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital recently tested a microneedle pill in the gastrointestinal tracts of pigs. A microneedle is exactly what it sounds like — a tiny pill, no bigger than two centimeters long and one centimeter in diameter, filled with minuscule hollow needles and a reservoir of the drug in question. The needles are coated with a pH-responsive substance that dissolves once the pill reaches the desired location in the GI tract. Once the pill dissolves, the medicine is injected into the stomach’s lining. The entire process lasts a little over a week.

This microneedle pill is specifically intended for drugs made from large proteins, such as antibodies. Because of their size, these drugs are unable to be absorbed — not that they would even get that far. If ingested, the GI tract’s acids and enzymes would degrade the molecules, rendering them inactive. The pill solves this problem by injecting the drugs directly into the GI tract’s lining. While it doesn’t sound like the most painless procedure in the world, there are actually no pain receptors in the GI tract.

Swallowing tiny needles sounds a little scary, but researchers say the method could potentially make a big difference for some patients.