The end of the needle era?
Photo Caption: Prof. Yosef Kost demonstrates the innovative treatment method using the developed device. Photographer: Danny Machlis, Ben-Gurion University.
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A new device developed by Ben-Gurion University and MIT researchers allows the introduction of drugs using ultrasound waves instead of the invasive and traditional methods accepted today, such as injections. This device is at the cutting edge of technology that aims to cure diseases efficiently, painlessly and in a more targeted way than with pills and also to perform various tests such as blood sugar level testing. Researchers claim that these development efforts will put an end to invasive treatment methods using needles.
The invention and development of the device, called "Sono-Prep", are the result of a collaboration between Prof. Yosef Kost, from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Ben-Gurion University and Prof. Robert Langer from MIT. Marketing of the device began this month (September) by the company Sontra (Sontra), and this after it was approved, these days, by the FDA-the American Drug Administration.
The device is currently used for local anesthesia, using lidocaine cream in preparation for treatments such as catheter insertion or blood transfusion. The duration of the treatment with the device is short - about half a minute - and is not accompanied by pain or damage to the skin. After using the device, the lidocaine cream is absorbed and takes effect faster.
The Sontra company stated that they are currently working on expanding the uses of the device for giving painkillers to cancer patients, giving flu vaccines and constantly monitoring the blood sugar level among diabetics, without the need for needles and the pain associated with an injection. The innovative method is based on a technique that is carried out using a portable hand-held device that transmits ultrasound waves, through which the skin's ability to transfer drugs into the body and also to transfer substances from the body's fluids to the outside increases.
"Approving the use of the device is important in itself and this will help in its marketing" says Prof. Kost "in addition, this paves the way for the development of a variety of other devices based on ultrasound technology". It should be noted that the cost of the device to the consumer is about 2.000 dollars.
The director of pain prevention services at the Children's Hospital of Rhode Island (RI), Dr. Charles Brody, claims that the innovative device may replace the various blood tests, especially among children who have undergone many tests and developed a fear of needles. Sontra recently signed an agreement with Bayer to open a device for continuous blood sugar measurement without a needle. Bayer has a 20% share in the sugar measurement market, which is estimated at about 5 billion dollars.
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