Controlled Release Using Gas Detonation in Needle-Free Liquid Jet Injections for Drug Delivery

The advent of new drug therapies has resulted in a need for drug delivery that can deal with increased drug concentration and viscosities. Needle-free liquid jet injection has shown great potential as a platform for administering some of these revolutionary therapies. This investigation explores the detonative combustion phenomenon in gases as a simple and efficient means of powering needle-free liquid jet injection systems. A preliminary, large-scale prototype injector was designed and developed. In contrast with the widely used air-powered and electrical driven needle-free injectors, the proposed detonation-driven mechanism provides equivalent liquid jet evolution and performance but can efficiently provide a controllable power source an order magnitude higher in strength by varying combustible mixtures and initial conditions. The simplicity and power output associated with this concept aid in improving current needle-free liquid injector design, especially for delivery of high volume, high viscosity drugs, including monoclonal antibodies, which target precise locations in skin tissue.