17:00 . 29/05
Apparently, people will soon stop fearing injections. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new injector able to inject medicine under the skin without the use of hypodermic needles, the article published in Medical Engineering & Physics says.
Their design is based on a mechanism called a Lorentz-force actuator. The high-speed jet injector device uses a small, powerful magnet and electric current to inject medicine at nearly the speed of sound (314m/s). The jet injector delivers its drugs through an opening as wide as a mosquito's proboscis and penetrates the skin. In fact, patients won't feel much of anything at all.
The new device can be used for injecting any kind of medicine. Changes in the current allow controlling the doses of the medicine, velocity and depth of the injection. The scientists write in MIT journal that this device can deliver drugs right through the eye into the retina.
The new device can be beneficial for those who are afraid of needles but need to self-inject regularly, like diabetic patients who take insulin.
