Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Rhys Williams
Doctoral Candidate
Contact details
UniServices House,
Room 527
70 Symonds Street
Auckland
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 83499
Email: rwil267@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Rhys Williams graduated from The University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Engineering (specializing in Biomedical Engineering) degree in 2010 and started his PhD study at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute in 2010.
His PhD project focuses on needle-free jet injectors (NFJIs). These devices utilize a Lorentz-force motor to form a fluid jet that can pierce through the skin and deliver a drug to subcutaneous and muscular tissue. Rhys is interested in modeling NFJIs in order to better estimate the jet speed of the fluid jet over time. This model will be used to inform design decisions for the team of researchers developing an NFJI at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts and at the University of Auckland.
Rhys will apply the model to his own specific application of delivering viscous drugs into subcutaneous tissue. This has both human and non-human animal applications in the delivery of hormones and vaccinations. Subjects injected by NFJIs have been reported to experience less pain than those subjected to needle-assisted delivery and NFJIs show evidence of more efficient drug uptake than needle-assisted injections. NFJIs also have the advantage of removing the chance of accidental stick injuries for health professionals.
Supervisors
- Dr Andrew Taberner (main supervisor)
- Associate Professor Poul Neilsen (co-supervisor)
Research group
