Even the mention of injections makes many people cringe. In some, this fear is so strong that patients refuse to seek treatment. Diabetic patients have to take frequent insulin injections so this stress is more for them. But now a needle-less injection has been developed by researchers at IIT Mumbai. Researchers at IIT Mumbai have developed a shockwave-based needle-less syringe. The needle allows the drug to be injected into the body painlessly and safely. IIT researchers have claimed that this syringe reduces the rate of skin injury and infection.
A team of researchers led by Prof Viren Menezes from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Mumbai has developed a technique to release drugs into the body without needing a needle using a 'shock syringe'. The shock syringe is slightly longer than a regular ballpoint pen and was developed in Prof Menezes' laboratory in 2021. Their study was published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials and Devices. In this study, they compared the quantification of the drug given by shock syringe and the drug given by regular injection in laboratory mice.
Injections with regular needles can cause trauma to the skin or subcutaneous tissue. A shock syringe is important to minimise tissue damage from the injection. A shock syringe punctures the skin using high-energy shock waves that travel faster than the speed of sound. The width of the orifice of the syringe mouth is kept at only 125 micrometers, which is the thickness of a human hair. Priyanka Hankare, a PhD student and lead author of the study, said the injection was not difficult because the mouth was small.
The researchers injected the three drugs into mice through three different tests. Researchers measured drug levels in blood and tissues to measure drug body distribution and absorption using a high-performance liquid chromatography method. Also, when the anesthetic was injected into the skin of the mice, the shock syringe produced the same effect as the needle injection. In both cases, the effects of anaesthesia started after three to five minutes and lasted for 20 to 30 minutes. This proved that the shock syringe was compliant. Shock syringes proved to be more effective than regular needle syringes in delivering antifungal drugs. The researchers found that when insulin was administered to diabetic mice with a shock syringe, blood sugar levels dropped more effectively and stayed lower for longer than with a regular needle. The shock syringe showed less damage to the mice's skin than the needle, and less inflammation caused by the use of the shock syringe.
Procedure of injection by shock syringe
A shock syringe has a miniature shock tube and has three parts. Driver, part to be driven and drug holder part. All three work together to create a microscopic spray through the shock wave. This spray distributes the medicine throughout the body. The speed of this spray is twice the speed of an airplane. This spray of liquid medicine comes out of the mouth of the syringe and penetrates the skin and enters the body. The whole process happens very quickly and yet gently, without the patient even knowing it.
Other benefits of shock injection
Shock syringes have other benefits than just painless injections. Vaccination campaigns for children and adults could be faster and more effective. Blood-borne diseases that can be caused by mishandling or improper disposal of needles can also be avoided, Hankare said.
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