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Grant for needle-free injection Dr David Fernandez Rivas receives financial support from the Pieter Langerhuizen Lambertuszoon Fonds

Every year, the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities awards a grant from the Pieter Langerhuizen Lambertuszoon Fonds. Of the thirteen applications submitted, the jury decided that David Fernandez Rivas’ proposal was the best. Dr Fernandez Rivas is a researcher at the University of Twente’s MESA+ research institute. Accordingly, Dr Fernandez Rivas will receive the sum of 15 thousand euros for the development of a needle-free injection method. He is working on an accessible and inexpensive device that can inject medication into the body directly through the skin, using a tiny jet of liquid. 

Every year, two million care providers suffer needle-stick injuries, which carry a risk of infection. Add to this the fact that many people are afraid of needles, and that used needles – if not handled properly – pose a risk to people and to the environment.

At the University of Twente, therefore, David Fernandez Rivas is working on a new device to inject medication without a needle. The method involves the use of inexpensive laser types, such as found in commercially available laser pointers. This laser must be connected to a ‘cartridge’ that Dr Fernandez Rivas is currently developing. In the cartridge a liquid is contained that in the future will be a medication. When the laser beam is focused properly, a bubble forms at the bottom of the cartridge. The temperature difference then causes this bubble to expand rapidly. The expanding bubble forces a very thin jet of liquid from the cartridge at a speed of no less than 100 metres per second. This is fast enough for the liquid to penetrate the skin, and so deliver the medication. 

Applications

Fernandez Rivas’ ultimate goal is to see to it that his device becomes available to the general public. This is why he is exploring ways of transforming his technology into a user-friendly, safe and inexpensive product. He plans to use the grant to continue developing such device and to acquire expertise in relation to its potential applications. This includes a better understanding of the depths to which specific medications need to be injected into the body and of the shape of the jet of liquid.

In addition to injecting medication, the researcher also feels that his device could potentially be used to inject pigment into damaged areas of skin, in burns patients. 

David Fernandez Rivas

David Fernandez Rivas, who was born in Cuba, is a tenure track Assistant Professor in the Department of Mesoscale Chemical Systems at the University of Twente’s MESA+ research institute. He conducts his research in close collaboration with researchers from the Department of Physics of Fluids. In the context of this project, Dr Fernandez Rivas is working with colleagues from Mexico’s INAOE (National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics) research institute. This exchange has been financially sponsored by CONACYT, Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology.  

Pieter Langerhuizen Lambertuszoon Fonds

The Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, founded in 1752, administers a fund that was created from a bequest by Pieter Langerhuizen Lambertuszoon. The financial support it provides is intended to promote scientific research or publication of the results of such research. Every year since 1920, a different individual scientist has been selected and paid a sum of up to 15 thousand euros from this fund. The jury praised the ‘innovative view’ set out in Dr Fernandez Rivas’ proposal. They also stated that his combination of entrepreneurship (David Fernandez Rivas is co-founder of BuBclean, a University of Twente spin-off company specializing in cleaning materials using ultrasound and bubbles) and a passion for science were fully in keeping with the traditions of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities.