First, to answer the main question: “what is a needle free injection and how does it work?”
The best and simple way is by saying that NFID is a drug delivery systems which work on a mechanism where liquid medication is forced into a tiny jet stream at high pressure. The medication injects itself at high speed directly through the skin without a physical instrument such as a needle needing to physically pierce the skin. The jet stream of the medication small and fast enough to break through the skin, creating a more comfortable experience.
Second important question is: “why use needle free and what for?”
The right answers are:
- The aim of modern needle-free drug delivery system is to enhance the prescribing and adoption of important drugs that require self-injection.
- Encourage taking life depending medication by children and people with needle phobia.
- Eliminating needle stick injuries both for doctors, nurses and the patients.
- Eliminating cross contamination, Needle-free injections takes the needle out of the equation and due to the high powered dosing mechanism, there is a little to no chance of cross contamination.
Needle-free injection devices (NFID) have been available for humans since the 1930s.
Needle-free injection devices can be divided into 2 types based on the source of power: 1.spring-powered. 2. compressed gas-powered. Spring-powered devices are compact and lower cost and have been primarily used for subcutaneous and self-administration of drugs, in 2014 intramuscular administration by spring powered needle free injectors been available after clinical studies proved flu vaccines made by CSL successfully administered. Gas-powered devices (jet injectors) have been primarily used for vaccine delivery, they have been designed to deliver larger volumes and their main disadvantage is its reliance on an exhaustible energy source, likelihood to bruise and mechanical failure. Studies have shown that most needle free injection systems can deliver the target molecule at a variety of tissue depths ranging from the dermis to the muscle depending on the force generated by the jet injector. In early days Jet injectors have been used in mass vaccination programs in people for smallpox, polio and Measles, the vast majority of vaccine trials in animals have used gas-powered jet injectors, most of the older devices used the multi-use syringe/nozzle to dose all the individuals; thereby causing potential safety hazards of transferring blood-borne pathogens between individuals. Most latest developed needle-free injection devices for animals also are equipped with non-disposable nozzle/syringes. New generation needle-free technology for people uses disposable single-dose cartridges eliminating re-use of the syringe by making them disposable with great emphasis on hygiene.
Over the last two decades, needle free injection devices manufacturers have come and gone, promoting both gas and spring operated injectors. Some are still around some focus on self-administration, some have suddenly stopped supplying due to reasons such as bankruptcy, product failure and some needle free devices manufacturer would only supply to pharmaceutical liquid drugs manufacturers exclusively in order to limit the use of needle free to their drugs.
This is our difference: The Comfort-in™ is here to stay, available directly to the public.
Past and present needle free injection devices:
- Injex
- Intrajet
- Medi-Jector vision
- T-Jet
- J-tip
- Penjet
- Med-E-Jet
- Advantaget
- Gentle jet
- Jupiter jet
- Bioject
- MHI-500
- Insujet
- SQ-pen
- Pharmajet
- CrossJet.
Manufacturers:
- Antares Pharma Inc
- PharmaJet
- HNS international (changed to Injex Equidyne Systems, changed to Rösch, changed to Injex Pharma, recently bankrupt.)
- Weston medical
- Pen Jet Corporation
- Evans Enterprise
- Advantaget Health Services
- Health for Personal Care
- National medical products, Inc