The company National Medical Products in California, USA, developed the device as a way of giving medications without the pain.
A high pressure carbon dioxide gas cartridge propels the medication under the skin, cancelling out the need for a needle.
Since its launch at the end of last century, it has been trialed at various hospitals including clinics in the US and the Hammersmith Hospital in London, UK, and has resulted in successful pregnancies for women undergoing IVF.
Needle Phobic?
In 2007, 20 women who were going through IVF at Hammersmith Hospital were involved in a study to see whether or not treatment via a J-tip would result in pregnancies, how easy it was to use and whether the device was more acceptable to them than a standard injection.
16 of the women completed the trial and four of them became pregnant. The study authors concluded that:
'This is the first report of the use of the novel J-Tip Needle-Free Injection System for administration of gonadotropins in IVF with successful ovarian stimulation and achievement of pregnancies. This report indicates that this technique is associated with minimal pain and high patient acceptability.'
They suggested further, larger studies before it is routinely introduced into IVF.
What are the Advantages of J-Tip?
- It is almost pain free. According to the Institute of Nuclear Medicine, 90% of patients who used it, felt no pain, 7.6% reported minimal pain and only one patient reported pain as intense as by a needle.
- Medications delivered by the J-tip are absorbed well.
- It is user friendly and particularly helpful for people who are afraid of needles. It is easy to use.
- It prevents needle stick injuries making it safer for the nurse and the patient
- It is disposible, the same as a needle, so there is no need for sterilization and no infection risk.
However, safety studies are still ongoing to see whether high pressure delivery of drugs has any side-effects and if they are comparable with needle side-effects so it may be a while before the nasty needles, pain and blood are a remnant of history.
It does offer hope to thousands of women who are afraid of needles, and their long suffering partners who are put in charge of giving their injections. It also has the potential to be used in other ways, for instance, to give insulin dependent diabetics the chance of having a pain free life.
Sources: Fertil Steril. 2008 Nov;90(5):1969-72. Epub 2007 Dec 31Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Department of Histopathology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London.
National Medical Products, Inc.
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