Needle-free injectors: After anaesthesia, this could be the next great breakthrough

Nobody likes getting injected: the idea of a sharp needle piercing your skin is itself uncomfortable.

Many people freak out during those shots in movies where characters are injected in extreme close-up. Fear no more, the technology to deliver drugs under the skin, into veins or within muscle tissue, has been developed.

A number of companies, including one called PharmaJet and another called BioJect, have developed needle-free injectors. No larger than a flashlight, these accommodate a syringe of the drug to be administered.

On pressing a switch, the drug is injected through a hole, no wider than a human hair, directly under the skin. Intense pressure generated by the injector creates a sort of “liquid needle” that penetrates beyond the skin.

The amount of pressure can be varied, depending on how deep the medicine has to go. The sensation, say people who have been injected without needles, is not as unpleasant as being pricked with a needle: rather than a sharp prick, it is akin to a mild slap on the thighs.

We hope this technology spreads fast and becomes mainstream. Among other things, it will make mass vaccination more acceptable, cut risks of infected needles being used and help millions of diabetics who have to live with the pain of daily injections.

Don’t forget, in a recent movie, even Batman took a needle-free shot.