Researchers in the Netherlands are developing laser technology to enable "painless" and needle-free injections. They think the findings will make progress and alleviate people’s fear of drilling.
"Gun Bubble" uses a laser to push tiny droplets across the outer layer of skin, said David Fernandez Rivas, a professor at Twente University and a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who founded the idea.
The process is faster than mosquito bites and "should not cause pain" because the nerve endings in the skin are not affected, he said, adding that this would be further studied.
"Within a millisecond, the beaker containing the liquid is heated by a laser, creating a bubble in the liquid, pushing the liquid out at a speed of at least 100 km per hour," he said during an interview in his lab. "It allows us to penetrate the skin without damage and without any wounds."
Rivas expects the invention will not only help more people get vaccinated, but will also prevent the risk of contamination from dirty needles, as well as reduce medical waste.
Testing on tissue samples has been successfully performed with a sum of 1.5 million euros of the European Union. A request for funding to begin human testing with volunteers is expected to be submitted this month.
A new start-up company will partner with the pharmaceutical industry to test and market "Bubble Gun" technology.
However, unfortunately, it may take 1-3 years for the method to be available to the general public, depending on research progress and regulatory issues.
Roughly one in five Dutch people are afraid of needles and experts say that "needle phobia is more common than you might think." People are just ashamed to admit it.
Source: Reuters
