When Dr. Modi and I created the PKA Micro-Needle, we wanted to ensure the device had a wide range of applications, just like the syringe.
Our design achieved this. Our medical device easily accommodates many different kinds of drugs. The most popular drugs that the device could be used for are:
- Insulin
- Vaccines
- Heparin
- Pain medications
- Obesity
- Psoriasis
- Hepatitis
- Testing, etc.
Our device encapsulates the drug in a chamber which we will call a “bubble” as it is made of flexible material. The device has a small fixed volume so it can function reliably inside our fixed chamber. Insulin, vaccines and herapin for example, could easily be accommodated inside the device due to the small quantity required to achieve the therapeutic results in the body.
One may ask how we can accommodate the different dosages in the same fixed volume. Most drugs have a very small amount of “active” ingredient in a media fluid. What we do is vary the small amount of active ingredient in the fixed media to achieve the desired dosage strength. So, for example, for insulin we can vary the active ingredient to achieve a wide range of dosages from 3 units to 80 units.
Most vaccines are small, single-shot quantities of liquid which are ideal for our medical device. We would mix the proper “active” in the media fluid to fit the fixed volume. For this reason, our device could be easily manufactured in large quantities.
We also ensured that the design of our device could accommodate other specific drug requirements. By way of example, to get rid of warts, a pharmaceutical company wants to inject a drug into the skin and beneath wart roots to kill the wart. With our device, we were able to put a small button on the bottom of the PKA SoftTouch Micro-needle so it would rest between the wart wall and the skin. We made the needle longer so that the needle, when actuated, was right under the center of the roots, to kill the wart.
Other variations include making a larger device for large animals, such as cows, horses, and pigs. Our fixed storage bubble could be made larger; again, we would vary the amount of active ingredient in the media fill to accommodate the larger animal. Depending on the drug, the veterinarian could use two devices to achieve a larger inoculation.
The PKA SoftTouch Micro-Needle medical device was designed to accommodate a wide range of injection applications. Hence, it is indeed a platform technology, which will ensure wide applications.
