Thanks to new technology, we may be able to get injections of vaccines, medications like insulin, and cosmetic treatments like Botox without a needle, using a new laser-based injection system. The BoldJet by FlowBeams users a laser to heat the medication, which creates a tiny bubble that expands to push a thin jet of liquid at high speed into the skin. Using BoldJet, injections are minimally invasive, virtually painless, and don’t cause damage to the skin.
While it sounds (and looks) a bit like science fiction, this is a real advancement for healthcare. That’s because using needles comes with some amount of risk, with potential needlestick injuries that can spread disease. Disposable needles are also a huge source of medical waste, with 32 billion syringes and needles used for injections every year. And then there are the patients: according to the CDC, two-thirds of children and a quarter of adults have a fear of needles, which can cause people to avoid treatment. And it could have applications beyond healthcare, such as stress-free veterinary injections, restorative treatments to mask scars, pain-free tattooing, and more.
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But when will you see BoldJet in our local doctor’s office? That’s less certain. FlowBeams has been developing the device since 2021, but doesn’t have a comment about when it might be available. Medical technology has to clear more regulatory hurdles than your average gadget, which often means slower rollout. This is technology that you want to be sure works exactly as intended before it goes into widespread use, and we’ll have to watch how it continues to develop.
Though BoldJet isn’t a cure for all medical ills, it’s practical technology that helps address small, but widespread problems. It’s exactly the kind of gadget we love to see at CES.
Image credit: Techlicious]
Elizabeth Harper is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering consumer technology and entertainment. In addition to writing for Techlicious, she's Editorial Director of Blizzard Watch and is published on sites all over the web, including Time, CBS, Engadget, The Daily Dot and DealNews.
