Slashdot Mirror
Gold and Helium Combine for Needle-Free Injections
Mr. Jaggers writes "U.K. biotech outfit, PowderMed Ltd., has developed a new method to deliver vaccine using an injector powered by concentrated helium gas. They enclose fragments of virus DNA in tiny gold particles, and use the injector to introduce particles into the body subdermally. Evidently, this has been in the works for some time, but is now ready for human clinical tests. Oh, and this is supposed to be used experimentally to target the H5N1 avian flu, which is also cool, I suppose."
This 'new method' is some 20+ years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_gun
I'd tell the submitter where to shove such 'new methods', but it appears that has already been done:
Chen et al. Immunity obtained by gene-gun inoculation of a rotavirus DNA vaccine to the abdominal epidermis or anorectal epithelium.Vaccine. 1999 Aug 6;17(23-24):3171-6
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
Need to use DNA because RNA is unstable. RNA and DNA are interconvertible, but the naked RNA molecule will be chopped up and eaten by the cell. Even if it didn't, it would also need (at least) a reverse transcriptase, (an RNA-dependant DNA polymerase enzyme) to go from RNA->DNA before the cell can start making viral proteins.
Since RNA has absolutely no chance for to survive or integrate without the viral enzymes, so gene-guns have to use DNA.
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
This is just a new spin on an old trick. Geneticists have been using tiny gold pellets coated in DNA in so-called "gene guns" for a long time. They're mainly used to transform plant cells, as these cells have tough cell walls.
Using them on the human cells is a logical step, but applicability is going to be rather narrow.
The Secret of Life: Proteins fold up and bind things.
Air bubbles in the blood stream arent that much of a big deal, you need to have quite a bit before it is a problem. I had 4 months of chemotherapy a year back and when they are changing lines etc I was shocked at the amount of air that went in, the nurse said lots of people freak out. The wierd thing is you can feel the air going in, which is a bit spooky.
I do not think there are any vaccines that are given intra-venously, anyway. Most vaccines that I know know of are given by the intra-muscular route, and some by the sub-cutaneous and intra-dermal route. So administering any vaccine should well be within your field of expertise as an EMT.
Because it's no where near the blood stream. This one is subdermal (just under the skin) not into a vein. For the vein, it would be an IV.
Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com
I don't really think this is going to change anything. The injections that this is replacing are mostly intra-muscular, so (assuming they're in your protocols) you could do them right now.
The reason Paramedics drop lines is less to introduce drugs but to add fluid volume, saline or blood. You can't do that intramuscularly, or without a needle. Once you have the line inserted as a way of adding volume, it's an easy way to give drugs (and there are admittedly drugs that are intended for intravascular use instead of IM), but a needle-less IM system wouldn't replace most IV insertions.
Unless you could find some way to continuously pump fluids into a vein without a catheter in place to keep it open, but I don't think anyone has proposed a needleless sytem that does that.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Jet injectors are fairly commonplace. My dad said they used them on new recruits in Basic, back in the day. He said it was a big thing that you had to lean in to and had a strong kick. Military issue. What's special here is the virus itself, I guess. Maybe use gold particles to carry it and using helium to power it is also new. I don't know.
Rome wasn't bilked in a day.
Since you asked...
Injector pens like this have existed for over 15 years. I currently use a MediJector Vision. Once you've purchased the injector pen, there is an additional cost for the adaptors to go on the insulin vials. You end up using about 10% less insulin per shot. I had one of the first ones produced back in 1990 and haven't had to do a needle injection since then. It feels like a quick pinch.
My shots aren't coated in gold, though.
Google just gives me shopping links, but you can find more details at places like drugstore.com. Even though I use them, I won't pimp them here. This is the type of thing that most local drugstores don't carry, so online is about the only way to get them.
-J