Kathianne
09-17-2012, 07:25 PM
http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-needles-12712813?click=pm_latest
The Beginning of the End of Needles? September 15, 2012 at 10:00:00 AM by Kathryn Doyle (http://www.popularmechanics.com/archives/how-to/blog/by_author/79187/15;1)
Are needles on the way out? Two new methods for administering drugs to the skin have been in the news within a day of each other.
In a paper published today (http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ol/fulltext.cfm?uri=ol-37-18-3894&id=241434) in Optics Letters a team from Seoul National University in South Korea demonstrates how to use a small laser assembly to force tiny jets of drugs into skin with less pain and more control than a needle.
The system includes two back-to-back chambers separated by a flexible membrane, one containing water behind another of the liquid drug to be delivered under the skin. The attached laser pulses once, for 250 millionths of a second, and a steam bubble forms in the water chamber, which presses on the membrane and forces the drug out of the other chamber. A hair-thin jet of the drug then shoots out the attached nozzle and penetrates the surface of the skin to a precisely calibrated depth, causing little or no pain. The laser never touches the skin—only the jet of liquid that the air bubble forces out. Multiple pulses of the laser up the dosage.
The creators had tried this with earlier prototypes, but the trick this time was to use the right laser wavelength to create the perfect-size bubble of steam. In previous tries the bubble had been too small and unstable, and the resulting jet didn’t reliably penetrate the skin. Right now the device is best suited for small doses of drugs at multiple sites, but lead researcher Jack Yoh, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, says in a statement that further development could make the laser suitable for children’s vaccinations en masse. He is currently working with a private company to make affordable, replaceable injectors that might soon be available overseas, but FDA approval would likely slow that process in the U.S.
Meanwhile, MIT scientists have developed an ultrasound method that they say “could pave the way for noninvasive drug delivery or needle-free vaccinations.” They say (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/ultrasound-waves-and-drug-delivery-0914.html) their device could be used for topical drugs like steroids, proteins like insulin, or vaccines. The team of chemical and mechanical engineers published a study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, set to appear in the Journal of Controlled Release.
Read more: The Beginning of the End of Needles? - Popular Mechanics (http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-needles-12712813#ixzz26mCQLlrF) ...
The Beginning of the End of Needles? September 15, 2012 at 10:00:00 AM by Kathryn Doyle (http://www.popularmechanics.com/archives/how-to/blog/by_author/79187/15;1)
Are needles on the way out? Two new methods for administering drugs to the skin have been in the news within a day of each other.
In a paper published today (http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ol/fulltext.cfm?uri=ol-37-18-3894&id=241434) in Optics Letters a team from Seoul National University in South Korea demonstrates how to use a small laser assembly to force tiny jets of drugs into skin with less pain and more control than a needle.
The system includes two back-to-back chambers separated by a flexible membrane, one containing water behind another of the liquid drug to be delivered under the skin. The attached laser pulses once, for 250 millionths of a second, and a steam bubble forms in the water chamber, which presses on the membrane and forces the drug out of the other chamber. A hair-thin jet of the drug then shoots out the attached nozzle and penetrates the surface of the skin to a precisely calibrated depth, causing little or no pain. The laser never touches the skin—only the jet of liquid that the air bubble forces out. Multiple pulses of the laser up the dosage.
The creators had tried this with earlier prototypes, but the trick this time was to use the right laser wavelength to create the perfect-size bubble of steam. In previous tries the bubble had been too small and unstable, and the resulting jet didn’t reliably penetrate the skin. Right now the device is best suited for small doses of drugs at multiple sites, but lead researcher Jack Yoh, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, says in a statement that further development could make the laser suitable for children’s vaccinations en masse. He is currently working with a private company to make affordable, replaceable injectors that might soon be available overseas, but FDA approval would likely slow that process in the U.S.
Meanwhile, MIT scientists have developed an ultrasound method that they say “could pave the way for noninvasive drug delivery or needle-free vaccinations.” They say (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/ultrasound-waves-and-drug-delivery-0914.html) their device could be used for topical drugs like steroids, proteins like insulin, or vaccines. The team of chemical and mechanical engineers published a study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, set to appear in the Journal of Controlled Release.
Read more: The Beginning of the End of Needles? - Popular Mechanics (http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-needles-12712813#ixzz26mCQLlrF) ...