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Needle Free Injections With Microjets
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:07 PM
from the very-star-trekkish dept.
from the very-star-trekkish dept.
IZ Reloaded writes "Do you hate needles? In the near future, the fear of needles would be a thing of a past. Bioengineering students at the University of California, Berkeley have developed the MicroJet. It uses an electronic actuator that could one day propel vaccinations, insulin or other drugs through the skin of the patient - without the device even touching the skin - with far less pain than a hypodermic needle."
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Insulin jet injectors are NOT NEW (Score:5, Informative)
http://diabetic-supplies.medical-supplies-equipme
Medi-Jector Vision(tm)Needle-Free Insulin Injection System
Accurate delivery of insulin injections from 2-50 units in 1 unit increments. Injector reusable for 3000 injections. No maintenance or cleaning required. Smaller, lighter weight and easier to use than previous models. Contains: injector, carrying case, training video, instruction manual, 2 Needle-Free Syringes (for easy and medium skin penetration) and 1 vial adaptor. Replacement Needle-Free Syringe kits sold separately.
what's amazing here?
Re:Insulin jet injectors are NOT NEW (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
I'm a type 1 diabetic (Score:5, Interesting)
However, I must say I really don't care if they come out with a needle-less injector that works better. It's not the shots themselves that bother me, but rather the constant maintenance that people take for granted. I'd still need to do something. Right now I have a pump, and it's better than doing individual injections, but it's always with me. I'm waiting for the day when I no longer have to worry about this disease any longer because I've been cured.
Injections - no big deal (Score:5, Informative)
You probably already know this but many other
Bloodsugar tests are a different story. My fingers are slightly callused from all the pinpricks - There are no real painless and definately no viable noninvasive bloodsugar monitoring techniques. Noninvasive bloodsugar monitoring is probably the second biggest Holy Grail in diabetes research (the biggest being an actual cure). The "alternative site testing" advertised by many modern meter manufacturers is highly overrated. If you read the manual of such meters you'll find that alternative site testing is inaccurate and gives a delayed reading and should not be used in many situations. (Of the 5-6 tests per day I run, only one is in conditions where AST is fine. And for that one test it's not worth changing lancet device heads.)
The thing I want most as a diabetic right now though is not painless/easier insulin injections (my NovoPen Junior with B-D Ultra-Fine III needles is both painless and convenient), or noninvasive testing (fingersticks are annoying but I'm used to it), it's CHEAP diabetes supplies. Bloodsugar meter test strips run on the order of $0.50-$1 per test. Insulin prices are skyrocketing. You're basically screwed unless you have a high-end medical insurance plan, which is TOUGH when you're a grad student.
But eventually, an actual cure would be damned nice.
Parent
Re:I'm a type 1 diabetic (Score:3, Informative)
Here is a company [cercomed.com] that is working on a similar procedure that will not require the use of immune suppressing drugs. Much closer to a true cure. Though they have not yet perfected their technology, it looks very promising.
Yes, do you prefer... (Score:4, Interesting)
Jetgun (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Jetgun (Score:2)
Re:Jetgun (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, they're promising "far less pain" with this device.
Once upon a time, I had the misfortune to receive a yellow fever vaccination with one of the military's needleless injectors. It felt like some steroid-pumped baseball player had swung a bat at my shoulder. Nearly as bad as the pain was the gathering anticipation of the pain, as I watched the 200-odd people in line ahead of me get their shots.
Parent
Re:Jetgun (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Jetgun (Score:4, Funny)
Hmmmm. Seems like 1/2 of it is malfunctioning. Stay right there, I'll be right over!
Parent
Re:Jetgun (Score:3, Insightful)
But out in the real world, if you tell someone "if you even flinch, you will need stiches" and people will not accept it.
Obligatory Star Trek reference... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Obligatory Star Trek reference... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Obligatory Star Trek reference... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Obligatory Star Trek reference... (Score:3, Insightful)
Gee! thanks for letting me look at your blog (Score:5, Informative)
Read the press release, its better
The first? (Score:5, Interesting)
And trust me.. It is not exactly pain-free.
Re:The first? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Well beyond... (Score:5, Funny)
So for God's sake, ask the nurse to check the settings before she pulls the trigger.
been around for a while (Score:2, Informative)
"Far less" (Score:2)
Didn't they invent this 40 years ago? (Score:2, Interesting)
That thing HURT!
Some time ago now (Score:2, Interesting)
I have yet to see them use that idea, and if you ask me that sounded a lot more cost effective then this does.
No needle at all, and it already exists (Score:4, Interesting)
As for lots of micro-needles vs. one big needle, it might not be all that new: I seem to recall getting some vaccine shot at school when I was a kid, where the nurse used some ring-looking plastic thing she put on her middle finger, with the business end of the device being a small, round "nail-bed" in her palm, and she slammed me on the shoulder with it, which probably accounts for the ugly mark I have there at that spot too
worst article eh-ver! (Score:4, Insightful)
"The researchers even joke that the MicroJet injector could be used to make getting tattoos much more bearable."
heh heh heh.... wait.. that's not a funny joke at all.
and the article fails to address the issue that this technology could become so painless that you do not even realize that you are receiving drugs. This becomes very scary.
Re:worst article eh-ver! (Score:3, Interesting)
One of the most attractive aspects of getting a tattoo is that it hurts. It means that not everyone can stand to have it done and that if you have a big tattoo (as I do) that says a lot. I don't want some Blink 182/Lit/Linkin Park loving wuss (anyone else notice that all these bands are from affluent white neighbourhoods?) ruining that.
Needle-free Injection Technology Info (Score:5, Informative)
As an allergy sufferer who gets 2 shots/week (Score:2)
This is nothing new ... (Score:4, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_injector
Heroin (Score:5, Funny)
Its not the needle (Score:5, Informative)
-Dracken
Re:Its not the needle (Score:3, Interesting)
When I was younger, my mom got something (hepatitis maybe?), so they had to test the family. I was about 5 at the time. I go in and they attempt to draw blood from me. They couldn't find the vein. So what do they do? They keep trying. I ended up being pricked about 15 times in each arm, til my mom stopped it. Those fucking idiots scarred me for life by doing that and now I can't stand to be near needles. Whenever I need to have shots, I need to
Re:Its not the needle (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Its not the needle (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Awww, then you won't hear this anymore..... (Score:3, Funny)
DOCTOR: Oh so I am. It does make a lovely scraping sound though.
Cute nurse (Score:3, Funny)
Injections for Multiple Sclerosis (Score:5, Informative)
In fact, up until about a century ago, sharp objects piercing into your body has generally been a detrimental event. It meant that you were being bitten (with poison or germs getting injected past your outer layer defenses) or you were getting punctured by something that would result in an infection. So everything about your physical makeup and your psychology is evolved to consider injections to be a bad thing. In a twist of events, now it turns out that shard objects getting jabbed into your body is mostly a beneficial thing. But it will take a long time for evolution to change our aversion to injections. And with new technologies, it may not even be necessary for that adaptation to occur. I certainly hope this becomes the case in the *very* near future.
The nerves on the surface of your skin tend to cluster. So, the amount of pain related to the actual puncture of the skin varies greatly, depending on whether or not you happen to hit one of those nerve clusters. Sometimes the penetration of the skin would result in a strong pinching sensation; other times, I would not feel anything at all. For the intramuscular injections, it is also possible that you will hit another nerve on your way into the muscle tissue. That usually just results in a reflex reaction (you jump or twitch). The act of the actual injection is painless, since the solution is injected far below the surface pain receptors. But then you tend to get long-term dull pain similar to a charly horse; it's like a blunt end of a stick whacked you in the thigh and you have a nice bruise in your muscle. And $deity help you if you happen to hit your bone with the tip of the needle.
About a year ago, I switched therapies to Rebif, which is given subcutaneously three times a week. The needle is a smaller gauge and is signifianctly shorter (~1.5cm). It is unintuitive, but the subcutaneous injections, even though the needle is shorter and thinner, are much more painful than the IM injections, because the solution is injected just below the surface of the skin, where you have a lot more pain receptors. So it's not the needle really that I worry about. I hardly even feel that any more; it's the stinging sensation from the liquid getting pushed into the subcutaneous tissue just below the skin.
I use a spring-loaded injection contraption that hides the needle from my view entirely; I just hold the casing to my skin and push a button. The spring-loaded plunger pushes the needle in and presses the plunger of the syringe down to inject the medicine. I don't even worry about the needle any more; I worry about the sting with the liquid getting pushed under my skin and the subsequent itchy and burning red blotch that stays in that area for weeks afterward. So in my case, at least, the needle is a non-issue; this needle-less technology is neat, but it will not help with the pain associated with liquid getting pushed under my skin, and it will not help with the site reaction.
Wake me up when they figure out how to effectively administrate interferon-beta with a pill.
Taking Blood (Score:3, Insightful)
I never minded a needle being popped in emptied and being subtracted. As mentioned here it seems a good thing to eliminate the need of needles for that. But as the "recipient" it doesn't make much of a difference it seems.
Now, when they bypass the need sticking a needle in one's vein to tap off blood for analys I'll be cheering! That is just so uncomfortable.
but will it leave a scar? (Score:4, Informative)
Unfortunately, I see nothing in the article that even mentions the issue of scarring, which imho should be a pretty big deal.
I remember when this was cool (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:AIDS (Score:3, Insightful)
Good point. I really hope there needs be some proximity while 'injecting'. In that case it wouldn't really be different from an HIV patient attacking you with a needle.
Re:AIDS (Score:3, Funny)
Re:yeah, but will it hit my vein? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
pneumatic injectors are painful (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:pneumatic injectors are painful (Score:3, Interesting)
Swab, *thwop*, swab, *thwop*, etc. about 3-5 seconds per person.
Key thing is not to flinch or move when they pull the trigger. If you do, the jet of vaccine works just like a water-cutter on skin.
Re:yeah, but will it hit my vein? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:yeah, but will it hit my vein? (Score:4, Interesting)
They weren't any less painful than a needle, but they were much quicker and they were foolproof. Literally anybody could use one. You just put it against the arm and pull the trigger.
I believe they were discontinued because of safety reasons. I believe they found out that there was a possibility of microdrops of blood being blasted back out of the skin, and then injected into the next person.
Parent
Re:yeah, but will it hit my vein? (Score:3, Interesting)
rj
Celebrities use... (Score:3, Funny)
You should try that Proactiv then. Apparently from the infomercials, Vanessa Williams was hideous before using Proactive Solution.