Needle-free jet injection

Liquid drugs can be injected through the skin without the use of needles using the principle of jet injection. Jet injectors create a hair-thin jet of fluid that impacts the skin surface at 200 m/s and can penetrate through skin and tissue to a depth of 20 mm. The MIT and ABI Bioinstrumentation Labs have developed the world’s first jet injectors that are actuated by highly-controllable, quiet, and reversible linear Lorentz-force motors. We tightly control the motion of the motor throughout the entire process of injection. This approach allows us unprecedented control over the precision of jet drug delivery.

Delivered volume and jet speed are electronically selected by the user, and can be varied during delivery. Our device can deliver the ampoule contents in a single injection or many smaller injections.

Our work has been published in Medical Engineering & Physics and Journal of Medical Devices and reported on by MIT News, The Economist, New Scientist, Popular Science, The Washington Post, Time, NPR, BBC, New Zealand Herald, and Television New Zealand, and many other websites and periodicals. MIT News has also released a Youtube video highlighting our work.

The ABI Bioinstrumentation Lab is now developing new versions of this device for viscous drug compounds. The MIT Bioinstrumentation Lab is developing devices for delivering drugs to the retina, for withdrawing fluid from the injection site, and for delivery of fluidised powdered drugs.
 

The needle-free jet injector has won the following awards:
 

The New Zealand Innovator Awards aim to celebrate and recognise innovative high growth New Zealand organisations and put them on a national stage to celebrate innovation and commercialisation.

The NZ Innovation Council is a private organisation with a social purpose – to help businesses to innovate and grow. It co-founded the New Zealand Innovators Awards in 2011 with Bayer NZ, Idealog and Ideas Accelerator.

More information on the awards can be found at www.innovators.org.nz.
 

Listen to Andrew Taberner, Bryan Ruddy, and Rhys Williams talk about the ABI/MIT needle-free jet injection on Radio New Zealand's 'Our changing world' programme.
 

from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute:

• Vice-Chancellors Strategic Development Fund, the University of Auckland
• Faculty Research Development Fund, the University of Auckland

1. Williams, R. M. J., N. C. Hogan, P. M. F. Nielsen, I. W. Hunter, and A. J. Taberner, A Computational Model of a Controllable Needle-Free Jet Injector, in 34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society. 2012. San Diego, Ca: IEEE.
2. Hemond, B.D., A. Taberner, C. Hogan, B. Crane, and I.W. Hunter, Development and performance of a controllable autoloading needle-free jet injector. Journal of Medical Devices, Transactions of the ASME, 2011. 5(1).
3. Taberner, A.J., N.C. Hogan, and I.W. Hunter, Needle-free jet injection using real-time controlled linear Lorentz-force actuators. Medical Engineering and Physics, 2012(0).
4. Hemond, B.D., D.M. Wendell, N.C. Hogan, A.J. Taberner, and I.W. Hunter. A lorentz-force actuated autoloading needle-free rnjector. in 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society. 2006. New York, NY: IEEE.
5. Hogan, N.C., B.D. Hemond, D.M. Wendell, A.J. Taberner, and I.W. Hunter. Delivery of active collagenase to skin using a lorentz-force actuated needle-free injector. in 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society. 2006. New York, NY: IEEE.
6. Taberner, A.J., N.B. Ball, N.C. Hogan, and I.W. Hunter. A portable needle-free jet injector based on a custom high power-density voice-coil actuator. in 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society. 2006. New York, NY: IEEE.
7. Wendell, D.M., B.D. Hemond, N.C. Hogan, A.J. Taberner, and I.W. Hunter. The effect of jet parameters on jet injection. in 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society. 2006. New York, NY: IEEE.
8. Hunter, I.W., A.J. Taberner, B.D. Hemond, D.M. Wendell, N.B. Ball, and N.C. Hogan, Needle-free transdermal transport device. 2006. WIPO, Patent No: WO/2006/086774.
9. Hunter, I.W., A.J. Taberner, B.D. Hemond, D.M. Wendell, N.B. Ball, and N.C. Hogan, Surface Injection Device. 2006. Europe, Patent No: EP1848480 B1.
10. Hunter, I.W., A.J. Taberner, B.D. Hemond, D.M. Wendell, N.C. Hogan, and N.B. Ball, Controlled Needle-free Eye Injector. 2006. USA, Patent No: US 20070129693 A1.
11. Hunter, I.W., A.J. Taberner, B.D. Hemond, D.M. Wendell, N.C. Hogan, and N.B. Ball, Controlled Needle-free transport. 2007. USA, Patent No: US7833189.