The advent of new drug therapies has resulted in a need for drug delivery that can deal with increased drug concentration and viscosities. Needle-free liquid jet injection has shown great potential as a platform for administering some of these revolutionary therapies. This investigation explores the detonative combustion phenomenon in gases as a simple and efficient means of powering needle-free liquid jet injection systems. A preliminary, large-scale prototype injector was designed and developed. In contrast with the widely used air-powered and electrical driven needle-free injectors, the proposed detonation-driven mechanism provides equivalent liquid jet evolution and performance but can efficiently provide a controllable power source an order magnitude higher in strength by varying combustible mixtures and initial conditions. The simplicity and power output associated with this concept aid in improving current needle-free liquid injector design, especially for delivery of high volume, high viscosity drugs, including monoclonal antibodies, which target precise locations in skin tissue.
DNS and LES of primary atomization of turbulent liquid jet injection into a gaseous crossflow environment
