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Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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American scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a syringe that injects drugs into the human body without using a needle. The results of the work of Professor Ian Hunter and his colleagues were published in the journal Medical Engineering & Physics.
The device operates on the Lorentz force, with which an electromagnetic field acts on a charged point particle. In the middle of the syringe is a powerful small magnet surrounded by a wire coil. A piston is attached to the coil, part of which is contained in an ampoule with the medicine.
Under the influence of the current, the coil makes the piston move and pushes the drug out of the ampoule at a speed close to the speed of sound - 314 meters per second. A stream of liquid as thick as a mosquito's trunk penetrates the skin and delivers drugs to the tissues to the desired depth. To facilitate the adsorption of the drug, the flow rate decreases after penetration under the skin.
The speed and pressure of the liquid, as well as the depth of drug penetration, can be changed using current strength. The authors of the development note that a wide range of adjustable parameters allows injections to be made even through the eardrum.
Now scientists are planning to create a new version of the device that can be used to administer powdered drugs.