page_title: Jet injector
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Jet injector / History
caption_attribution_description: SP5 Lawrence E. Blackman (Darlington, SC) Hq &amp; Hq Co, USASTC, receives the first typhus shot administered by Hypospray Jet Injector at Fort Gordon by Mr. John R. Gordon, representative of the R.P. Schere Corp., Detroit, Michigan. M/Sgt Edward Sammons (Rush, KY), Administrative NCO, Post Surgeon’s Office, who swabbed the patients arm, observes. Fort Gordon, GA. 08/26/1959. Photo by Roy C. McManus. Post Sig Photo Lab, Fort Gordon, GA. Selected by Kathleen.
context_page_description: A jet injector is a type of medical injecting syringe device used for a method of drug delivery known as jet injection, in which a narrow, high-pressure stream of liquid penetrates without needle the outermost layer of the skin to deliver medication to targeted underlying tissues of the epidermis or dermis, fat, or muscle.
  The jet stream is usually generated by the pressure of a piston in an enclosed liquid-filled chamber. The piston is usually pushed by the release of a compressed metal spring, although investigational devices may use piezoelectric effects and other novel technologies to pressurize the liquid in the chamber. The springs of currently-marketed and historical devices may be compressed by operator muscle power, hydraulic fluid, built-in battery-operated motors, compressed air or gas, and other means. Gas-powered and hydraulically-powered devices may involve hoses that carry compressed gas or hydraulic fluid from separate cylinders of gas, electric air pumps, foot-pedal pumps, or other components to reduce the size and weight of the hand-held part of the system and to allow faster and less-tiring methods to perform consecutive vaccinations.
context_section_description: 19th century: Workmen in France had accidental jet injections with high-powered grease guns
  December 18, 1866: Jules-Auguste Béclard presented Dr. Jean Sales-Girons invention, Appareil pour l'aquapuncture to l'Académie Impériale de Médecine in Paris. This is the earliest documented jet injector to administer water or medicine under enough pressure to penetrate the skin without the use of a needle.
  1920s: Diesel engines began to be made in large quantities: thus the start of serious risk of accidental jet-injection by their fuel injectors in workshop accidents.
  1935: Arnold K. Sutermeister, a mechanical engineer, witnessed a worker injure his hand from a high-pressure jet stream and theorized of using the concept to administer medicine. Sutermeister collaborates with Dr. John Roberts in creating a prototype jet injector.
  1937: First published accidental jet injection by a diesel engine's fuel injector.
  1936: Marshall Lockhart, an engineer, filed a patent for his idea of a jet injector after learning of Sutermeister's invention.
  1947: Lockhart's jet injector, known as the Hypospray, was introduced for clinical evaluation by Dr. Robert Hingson and Dr. James Hughes.
  1951: The Commission on Immunization of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board requested the Army Medical Service Graduate School to develop "jet injection equipment specifically intended for rapid semiautomatic operation in large-scale immunization programs." This device became known as the multi-use nozzle jet injector (MUNJI).
  1954–1967: Dr. Robert Hingson partook in numerous health expeditions with his charity, Brother's Brother Foundation. Hingson stated he vaccinated upwards of 2 million people across the globe using various multi-use nozzle jet injectors.
  1955: Warren and colleagues (1955) reported on the introduction of a prototype multi-dose jet injector, known as the Press-O-Jet, which had successfully undergone clinical testing upon 1,685 soldiers within the U.S. Army.
  1959: Abram Benenson, the Lieutenant Colonel for the Division of Immunology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, reported on the development of what became widely known as the Ped-O-Jet. The invention was the collaboration of Dr. Benenson and Aaron Ismach. Ismach was a civilian scientist working for the US Army Medical Equipment and Research Development Laboratory.
  1961: The Department of the Army made multi-use nozzle jet injectors the standard for administering immunizations.
  1961: The CDC implemented mass vaccination programs across the United States called Babies and Breadwinners to combat polio. These vaccination events used multi-use nozzle jet injectors.
  1964: Aaron Ismach invented an intradermal nozzle for the Ped-O-Jet injector, which allowed delivery of the shallower smallpox vaccinations.
  1964: Aaron Ismach was awarded the Exceptional Civilian Service Award at the Eighth Annual Secretary of the Army Awards ceremonies for his invention of the intradermal nozzle.
  1966: Oscar Banker, an engineer, patented his invention of a portable multi-use nozzle jet injector that utilizes CO2 as its energy source. This would become known as the Med-E-Jet.
  September 1966: The Star Trek series started to use its own jet injector device under the name "hypospray".
  1967: Nicaraguans undergoing smallpox vaccinations nicknamed the gun-like jet injectors (Ped-O-Jet and Med-E-Jet) as "la pistola de la paz", meaning "the pistol of peace". The name "Peace Guns" stuck.
  1976: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) published a book called War on Hunger which detailed the War Against Smallpox which Ismach's Jet Injector gun was used to eradicate the disease in Africa and Asia. The US government spent $150 million a year to prevent its recurrence in North America.
  1986: A hepatitis B outbreak occurs amongst 57 patients at a Los Angeles clinic due to a Med-E-Jet injector.
  1997: The US Department of Defense, the jet injector's biggest user, announced that it would stop using it for mass vaccinations due to concerns about infection.
  2003: The US Department of Veterans Affairs reco
caption: Hypospray Jet Injector used in typhus vaccination at a US military base, 1959.
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