Controllable needle-free injection : development and verification of a novel device

Current needle-free injection technology is based on actuation via compressed springs or gas. These devices are not easy to modify for different depths of injections. This thesis describes the design and verification of a handheld needle-free device which is capable of various injection depths via electrical control of a Lorentz-force voice coil actuator. A benchtop proof-of-concept device was created to prove the concept of needle-free injection using a voice coil. After the successful testing of the proof-of-concept device, a handheld prototype was designed, manufactured, and tested. The controllability of injections was tested on excised sheep tissue in-vitro. The handheld device was also tested in-vivo on sheep midside and was shown to give comparable injections to a needle for delivery of the drug collagenase. The controllable needle-free injection principles described in this thesis could be used in human or veterinary applications.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Wendell, Dawn M. (Dawn Marie), 1983-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ian W. Hunter.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35309

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35309