Evening star., 1947-10-09
By Thomos G. Buchanan


muth while DR.. Arnold E. Than
By Thomos 6. Buehonon
A medical gun which shoots"
drugs painlessly into a patients
skin by compressed air was unveiled
yesterday at the closing session of
the District Medical Society's scien-
tific assembly.
The instrument, q doctor reported,
may supplant completely the hypo-
dermic needle for medical injections.
It's other possible uses, both medi-
cal and nonmedical, ares scarcely
guessed at as yet, so new is the prin-
ciple of operation. he told the as
sembly.
In the hands of a gangster, he
admitted, it could be used as a
weapon to inject an enemy with
poison and escape before the crime
was detected.
Other Uses Possible.
In industry, the principle might
be modified for use in the injec-
ton of fuel to power an engine.
It might even be able to blast
away unwanted tattoo marks from
the surface of the skin, he specu-
lated.
The disclosure was made by DR..
Edward B. Tuohy, a newcomer to
the Georgetown Medical School
staff and president Of the Amer
ican Society of Anesthesiologists.
He raced through a routine scien-
tific paper on anesthesia, then
pulled out an instrument shaped
like a flashlight, called two assist
ants to the Hotel Statler stage and
announced he was about to demon
strate an entirely new hypodermic
technique.
As the capacity audience leaned
forward to watch, the younger doc
tor held up piece nf3 psperss and
Dr. niohy pressed his saaahalght"
against It,. 's8s'>
50, ""Is am holding in my hand an
instrument called 'hypo-spray, |"
he told them.
Painless Injection. g:
He showed the doctors how the
device could fire" q spray of liquid
through the paper without leaving
any visible hole, then repeated the
process on the barred arm Of an
assistant. The assistant testified he
felt no pain, yet a small swelling
under the skin showed an injec-
ton had been made.
BY turning the handle of the
hypo-spray gun, DR.. Tuohy ex-
planned, pressure up to 125 pounds
per square inch is built up. When
the trigger" is released, liquid in
side the device is squirted through a
tiny opening a three -thousandth Of
an inch wide.
The resultant spray penetrates
the skin to q maximum depth Of an
inch and half, with practically no
sensation aroused. OF the persons
on whom it has 50 far been tried,
DR.. Tuohy reported, 60 per cent
don't feel it at all, while the others
say the pain is negligible, compared
to a hypodermic needle.
The value of so painless an in
lection can scarcely be overesti-
mated, he pointed out, particularly
in the relief 1t promises to bring to
diabetes who take constant "shots"
of insulin and to those who receive
frequent injections Of penicillin and
other drugs.
Sterile Ammunition"
In addition, he contended, 1t is a
fool proof method Of assuring sterile
equipment. Whereas a hypodermic
needle may get rusty or otherwise
contaminated, the metapule con-
tanning the drug ammunition" OF
the hypo-spray gun remains sterile
during the handling.
The idea of the hypo-spray, DR..
Tuohy disclosed, came from OBJ
servation of the effect Of industrial
and wartime explosions, in which
foreign matter penetrated mems
skins without any visible point OF
entry on the surface.
He said the first medical applica-
ton was conceived by his former
pupil and associate, DR.. Robert Hing
son, professor of anesthesiology at
the University of Tennessee Medical
College. After Dr.. Hingson sug-
gested its possible medical uses, he
related, he shared in further de-
velopment of the principle.
Soon to Be Available.
DR.. Tuohy said a patent is pend
ing on the medical guns, and assert
ed they would become available to
the medical profession early next
year.
Some Federal control of the dis
,tribution of the guns, or at least Of
the metapules containing dangerous
or habit-forming drugs, will prob
ably be necessary, he conceded.
After the initial demonstration,
the scientific assembly was inter-
rupted as scores Of doctors pressed
toward the speakers platform for
additional exhibitions Of the hypo-
spray. Many asked DR.. Tuohy to
try 1t out on them, and none re-
ported any sharp sensation.
"This instrument has possibilities
which are limited only by the human
mind" he told them. ut really
scares you.