Health
Gentle injection method tested
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 3, 2004
A new, painless method of delivering drugs through the skin was described in BMC Medicine, which is published by BioMed Central, an independent online publishing house that offers open access to peer-reviewed medical research.
Using a technique called microscission, researchers used a stream of gas to bombard small areas of the skin with tiny crystals of inert aluminum oxide. The sharp particles remove the rough surface-layer of the skin and create tiny holes in the underlying layers of the skin. The crystals and loosened skin were taken away with the gas flow. The whole process took less than 20 seconds, said the researchers.
Volunteers said the technique felt like a gentle stream of air, much less painful than being pricked by a needle.
The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology researchers tested the technique by attempting to anesthetize the skin through the microconduits. After using microscission to create four conduits in a small area, pads soaked with lidocaine were applied. Within two minutes the patch of skin was anaesthetized.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/05/03/hlbf0503.htm.
