For all of those people who cringe at the very thought of receiving a shot at the doctor's office, there's good news on the horizon. A new, needle-less injection syringe will soon make its debut.
Obviously inspired by the Dr. "Bones" McCoy's needle-less "hypo-spray" injection device from the original Star Trek series, it was invented by a group of MIT researchers. Now, vaccines or medicines can be delivered via a high-speed pressure jet through the skin in a new needle-less method developed by scientists which could spell the end of painful (and scary) injections.
The injector works via a device called a Lorentz-force actuator, which is a powerful magnet attached to a piston inside a drug-filled vial. When a current is applied, the magnet ejects the capsule at very high pressure, puncturing the skin with no more pain than a simple mosquito bite.
The researchers say that among other benefits, the technology will drastically cut down the number of accidents among doctors and nurses who accidentally prick themselves with needles while on the job.
The breakthrough is reported in the science journal Medical Engineering and Physics.
