THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 29, 1996 TAG: 9601270064
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TECH TRACK
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
IF YOU, like me, can't get enough of phasers, photon torpedoes and the mortal threat posed by worlds-destroying aliens known as the Borg, then you're gonna love ``Star Trek: Federation Science.'' The exhibition, on display through April 30 at the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton, showcases a starship's worth of speculative science and futuristic gear.
Which brings us to a gadget that proves fiction sometimes sires fact. Trek fans know that when dedicated Starfleet medical officers beam down to hostile planets, they always squirrel away at least one ``hypospray,'' a device that delivers drugs without needles. Now comes the Biojector 2000, made by a Portland, Ore., company, Bioject Inc., which does the same thing.
Similar in appearance to its science-fiction counterpart, the real-world Biojector uses compressed carbon dioxide gas and sterile, disposable syringes to force medication through the skin and into the bloodstream. It's fast - operating within a fraction of a second - and there's no piercing of flesh and no pain.
Well . . . maybe just the tiniest bit of pain. Occasionally, the company says, shot-takers will feel a momentary ache or a pricking/stinging sensation in the aftermath of the superfast injections.
The device can be used to deliver most kinds of medications, especially vaccines for kids. But if you're diabetic, you'll probably have to stick with conventional needles for the time being. Biojectors disperse insulin through the body too quickly than is medically prudent.
Even so, at nearly $1,000 apiece, you'd have to be fairly needle-phobic to invest in a Biojector 2000 for your home medicine chest. That's not to mention shelling out a dollar apiece for the disposable syringes and $5 for a box of 10 carbon dioxide cartridges (each cartridge is good for 10 injections).
Bioject, a co-sponsor of the traveling Star Trek show, would love to sell its injectors to your family doc. The company needs all the customers it can find; forward-looking though it may be, Bioject has lost money 10 straight years while trying to develop markets for its products. MEMO: ``Tech Track'' appears every Monday in the Daily Break. Readers with
ideas for future columns are invited to contact staff science and
technology writer James Schultz at (804) 446-2599, or via e-mail at
schultz(AT)infi.net
ILLUSTRATION: BIOJECT
Instead of needles, the Biojector 2000 system uses compressed carbon
dioxide gas to deliver injections.
by CNB