Needle-free Jet Injection

We tightly control the motion of the motor throughout the entire process of injection. This approach allows us unprecedented control over the precision of jet drug delivery. Delivered volume and jet speed are electronically selected by the user, and can be varied during delivery. Our device can deliver a wide range of liquid drugs in a single injection or over many smaller injections.

Insulin Delivery and Blood Extraction

Using our highly controllable, reversible electric motors we aim to measure blood glucose concentration and deliver insulin with the same device. This involves using the reversibility of our devices to suck up a small blood sample before measuring glucose concentration and delivering the required amount of insulin.

Injector Development

We are working toward improving many aspects of our jet injectors, and using them to better understand the important issues associated with this drug delivery technique. This includes the use of lasers to measure injection depth, developing new techniques to deliver larger volumes, and understanding how parameters such as orifice shape or fluid viscosity affect fluid delivery.

New Applications for Jet Injection

We are testing our jet injection devices in a range of drug delivery applications. Our current focuses include:

• Insulin delivery for diabetics
• Dental local anesthetic
• Jet injection of nicotine to help people quit smoking

1. Xu, J., Mckeage, J. W., Ruddy, B. P., Nielsen, P. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2021). Jet-induced Tissue Disruption for Blood Release. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. URL coming soon.
   
   
2. Xu, J., Mckeage, J. W., Ruddy, B. P., Nielsen, P. M. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2021). Jet induced Blood Release from Human Fingertips: A Single-blind, Randomized, Crossover Trial’. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology.
   
   
3. McKeage, J., Loch, C., Zwirner, J., Hammer, N., White, D., Ruddy, B., Brunton, P., & Taberner, A. (2021). Controllable jet injection of dental local anaesthetic. IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine, PP, 1-1.
    
   
4. Williams, R. M. J., McKeage, J. W., Ruddy, B. P., Nielsen, P. M. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2019). Viscous Heating Assists Jet Formation During Needle-Free Jet Injection of Viscous Drugs. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 66(12), 3472-3479.
   
   
5. Ruddy, B. P., Bullen, C., Chu, J. T. W., Jeong, S. H., Madadkhahsalmassi, B., McKeage, J. W., Svirskis, D., Tingle, M. D., Xu, J., & Taberner, A. J. (2019). Subcutaneous nicotine delivery via needle-free jet injection: A porcine model. Journal of Controlled Release, 306, 83-88.
   
   
6. Do, N. N. L., Taberner, A. J., & Ruddy, B. P. (2019). A Linear Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Large Volume Needle-Free Jet Injection [Journal paper]. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 55(2), 1437-1446. 
   
   
7. Brennan, K. A., Ruddy, B. P., Nielsen, P. M. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2019). Spatially resolved diffuse imaging for high-speed depth estimation of jet injection. Journal of Biophotonics, 12(12), e201900205.
   
   
8. Brennan, K. A., Ruddy, B. P., Nielsen, P. M. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2019). Classification of diffuse light emission profiles for distinguishing skin layer penetration of a needle-free jet injection. Biomed Opt Express, 10(10), 5081-5092.
   
   
9. McKeage, J. W., Ruddy, B. P., Nielsen, P. M. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2018). The effect of jet speed on large volume jet injection. Journal of Controlled Release, 280, 51-57. 
   
   
10. McKeage, J., Ruddy, B. P., Nielsen, P. M. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2018). Power-Efficient Controlled Jet Injection Using a Compound Ampoule. Journal of Controlled Release, 291, 127-134.
    
    
11. Ruddy, B. P., Dixon, A. W., Williams, R. M. J., & Taberner, A. J. (2017). Optimization of Portable Electronically Controlled Needle-Free Jet Injection Systems. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(5), 2013-2021.
    
    
12. Hogan, N. C., Anahtar, M. N., Taberner, A. J., & Hunter, I. W. (2017). Delivery of immunoreactive antigen using a controllable needle-free jet injector. Journal of Controlled Release, 258, 73-80.
    
    
13. Williams, R. M. J., Ruddy, B. P., Hogan, N. C., Hunter, I. W., Nielsen, P. M. F., & Taberner, A. J. (2016). Analysis of Moving-Coil Actuator Jet Injectors for Viscous Fluids [Journal paper]. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 63(6), 1099-1106.
    
    
14. Li, X., Ruddy, B., & Taberner, A. (2016). Characterization of needle-assisted jet injections. Journal of Controlled Release, 243, 195-203.
    
    
15. Hogan, N. C., Taberner, A. J., Jones, L. A., & Hunter, I. W. (2015). Needle-free delivery of macromolecules through the skin using controllable jet injectors [Journal paper]. Expert Opin Drug Deliv, 12(10), 1637-1648.
    
    
16. Taberner, A., Hogan, N. C., & Hunter, I. W. (2012). Needle-free jet injection using real-time controlled linear Lorentz-force actuators. Medical engineering & physics, 34(9), 1228-1235.
    
    
17. Hemond, B. D., Taberner, A., Hogan, C., Crane, B., & Hunter, I. W. (2011). Development and performance of a controllable autoloading needle-free jet injector. Journal of Medical Devices, Transactions of the ASME, 5(1).
    

• 2014 New Zealand Innovators Award Winner "Innovation Excellence in Research" and Highly commended in "Innovation in Health and Science".

Primary contact

Andrew Taberner

Academics

James McKeage
Poul Nielsen
Bryan Ruddy
Andrew Taberner

Students

Nick Do
Bahareh Madadkhahsalmassi
Jiali Xu

• Professor Ian Hunter, and Dr Cathy Hogan - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA. 
• Professor Geoffrey Chase - University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. 
• Professor Paul Brunton, and Dr. Carolina Loch - University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 
• Portal Instruments

• Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge, New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
• Medtech Centre of Research Excellence 
• Health Research Council of New Zealand