Development of needle-free methods to administer injectable therapeutics has been researched for a few decades. We focused our attention on a laser-based jet injection technique where the liquid-jet actuation mechanism is based on optical cavitation. This study investigates the potential damage to therapeutic molecules which are exposed to nanosecond laser pulses in the configuration of a compact laser-based jet injection device. Implementation of a pulsed laser source at 1574 nm wavelength allowed us to generate jets from pure water solutions and circumvent the need to reformulate therapeutics with absorbing dyes. We performed H1-NMR analysis on exposed samples of Lidocaine and δ-Aminolevulinic acid. We made several tests with linear and plasmid DNA to assess the structural integrity and functional potency after ejection with our device. The tests showed no significant degradation or detectable side products, which is promising for further development and eventually clinical applications.
Keywords: Degradation; Drug delivery; Jet injection; Laser cavitation; Minimally invasive; Needle-free injection; Optofluidics.
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