Ouchless Shots And Blood Tests

From injections without needles, to blood tests without pricking the skin, biopharmaceutical firms are developing ways to administer medicine without pain, reports CBS This Morning Medical Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay.

Some of the devices being tested include a better method for diabetics to test their blood, and painless injections to prevent a variety of illnesses.

Some new ouchless medical technologies include:

The Biojector 2000

This device has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is now being used in select hospitals to administer flu vaccines to children as well as medication to fight Hepatitis B.
The Biojector 2000 is a high-speed jet delivery system that uses compressed carbon dioxide as a power source to inject medication into the muscles and under the skin without a needle. It takes just a fraction of a second for the medication to come through a tiny opening and effectively penetrate the skin.

Because the part of the Biojector that touches the skin is discarded after each use, it is safer than some previous devices. In the mid-1980s, patients at a California clinic contracted Hepatitis B from a different type of needleless jet injector because the injector heads were cross-contaminating from patient to patient. This problem can be avoided because of the Biojector 2000's disposable injector head.

EMLA

For those times when you must have a needle-stick procedure, ask your doctor about this product. What looks like a huge bandage is really a "peel and stick" topical anesthetic that numbs the skin.

EMLA is made of the pain killers lidocaine and prilocaine, and is available by prescription only. It takes about one hour for it to completely numb the location, and is safe enough for use on children above one month in age. Parents can actually apply EMLA before the child visits the doctor. EMLA is useful for a variety of needle procedures, including: IV placement, port access, blood and lab draws, lumbar punctures, and superficial skin surgery.

Lasette Laser Lancing Device

Testing glucose levels can be painful for the more than 10 million Americans with diabetes. Normally the procedure calls for sticking a finger several times a day with a metal lancet to draw blood to measure glucose levels.

Recently, the FDA approved this device, which is now being used in doctor's offices. A smaller version will soon be available for in-home use. Instead of a needle, the Lasette uses a small laser beam that vaporizes the skin tissue, leaving a small hole for a blood sample.

The laser that punctures the skin feels like a little applied pressure, but does not hurt. The Lasette is manufactured by Chronimed of Shrewsbury, N.J.

Diasensor 1000

In the near future, it's possible that a machine like the Diasensor 1000 by Biocontrol Technology, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa., could take a glucose reading through the skin of an arm.

The computer has a fiber optic probe that emits a near infrared light. The light penetrates the skin, picks up a particular pattern in the blood, and reflects this information to the Diasensor's computer. The amount of blood glucose is then displayed. While the product is not FDA-approved, it is currently in use in Europe. It has been marketed for home use for Type I and insulin dependent Type II diabetics.

GlucoWatch Monitor

Another device for diabetics under development is a wristwatch-like monitor that is automated to continuously take glucose measurements.

Worn on the wrist, the GlucoWatch Monitor uses a low level of electric current to extract glucose painlessly. It contains an 'AutoSensor' that reads the glucose levels.

Microneedles

For a long time, it was difficult to administer medication through the skin without a needle, because the skin didn't absorb certain medications well. Soon, revolutionary devices like microneedles could become commonplace.

In four or five years, medication could be administered though the 400 microneedles in a chip that itself is 1/100 of the diameter of a human hair. The microneedle chip is the size of a baby aspirin. Pressed against the outermost layer of the skin, it releases medication that penetrates deep enough to reach tiny blood vessels called capillaries, which then transport the drug into the bloodstream.

PowderJect

Sooner than the microneedles may come the
PowderJect, a product that allows powdered forms of drugs, vaccines and gene therapy medications to be delivered to the body through the skin.

The simple action of pressing the device against the skin trips a lever inside which releases a helium gas. The gas propels the powdered medication through the device with a supersonic speed and forces medication through the skin, without causing pain or bruising. This technology will likely be used by diabetics and children needing growth hormones or vaccinations.

BiliChek

This new device, still awaiting FDA approval, uses light beams instead of needles to detect infant jaundice -- an illness that affects 65 percent of all newborns.

The BiliChek is lightly pressed against the sleeping infant's head. Five separate readings are taken, and within a few moments, the level of bilirubin in the infant's body is clearly displayed on the device. This technology could completely replace the current jaundice detection test that requires an infant to undergo a very painful "heel-stick" to draw blood for lab tests.

FluMist

This tiny nasal spray injector with its live influenza vaccine could make the conventional flu shot obsolete. Dotors hope that adults and children may be more inclined to get a seasonal flu vaccine because of the painless device.

A recent New England Journal of Medicine study found that FluMist intrasnasal influenza vaccine not only provided protection against the flu, but also offered 98 percent protection against ear infections in children. Influenza often causes swelling of the ear canal, making it more difficult for fluids to drain. About one-third of annual pediatric visits are the result of ear infections. With FluMist, it would be possible to prevent children from getting both the flu and painful earaches.

DentiPatch

Inside the DentiPatch is a numbing medicine called lidocaine. It's placed directly on the gum in areas where dental work is to be done. It helps eliminate pain during soft tissue dental work like scaling. When a needle is needed for more involved work, the DentiPatch numbs the site where novicane is to be injected.

Laser Dentistry

The Centauri is the first dental laser system cleared for use for procedures like decayed tissue removal and cavity removal preparation. The laser uses a fiber optic system in which energy from a focused beam of light is rapidly absorbed by and vaporizes water at the tooth's surface. The laser and the water spray impact the tooth to remove diseased tissue.

Doctors have finally gotten the message that patients clearly don't like needles or the pain they inflict. Fortunately, painless new ways to get medicine into the body are now creeping into doctor's offices and hospitals, and there are even more promising advances coming down the pike. Needleless technology could help lower the cost of medical waste and prevent accidental exposure to the AIDS virus.

Reported By Dr. Emily Senay