Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a device for injecting drugs through the skin without the need to use a hypodermic needle. The gun-shaped device introduces the drug through a shot of high pressure stream through the skin containing a quantity of substance may be chosen according to the desired dose to a desired depth.
“Researchers believe the technology, among other benefits, could help reduce injuries from needle sticks,” said the statement from MIT. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that health caregivers employed in U.S. hospitals are hurting themselves with needles about 385 000 times a year.”
The guns also encourage patients to self-administer doses of some drugs to lose their fear of needles, such as insulin.
“For example, nicotine patches slowly release the drug through the skin, but it is only molecules small enough to pass the pores of the skin by limiting the type of medicine that can be applied,” said the report released n the Journal of Medical Physics and Engineering.
The gun powered by a jet injection system which is constructed based on a mechanism known as Lorentz force transmitter, which consists of a small magnet that is surrounded by a coil of wire connected to a piston within a drug vial.
“When electric current is applied, it interacts with the magnetic field to produce a force urging the piston forward releasing the drug at high pressure and speed, nearly equivalent to the speed of sound through the air, which exits through a hole the same size as that found in the appendix with a mosquito “bites” people “.