ISPIV2017

The 12th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry

June 18 (Sun) – 22 (Thu), 2017 / Grand Hotel, Busan, Korea

Analysis of fluid microjet for development of air-powered needle-free skin

treatment system
Abdul Mohizin A M 1, Bibin Prasad1, K E Reby Roy2 and Jung Kyung Kim3

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Republic of
Korea; amohizin@gmail.com
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, TKM College of Engineering, Kollam 691005, Kerala, India

3 School of Mechanical Engineering, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Republic of Korea

ABSTRACT

Needleless or needle-free injection system has caught an attention in the medical world due to their numerous advantages
over the conventional invasive drug delivery systems [1-2]. Among the various needle-free systems, gas powered liquid
drug delivery systems have the popularity [3–6]. In this system the required drug is delivered through a micro fluid stream
that penetrates the skin. A driving piston forces the fluid column through a nozzle creating an effective high velocity
microjet fluid stream. In the present study, the performance and fluid mechanics characteristics of needle-free liquid
injection systems, specifically powered by compressed air, is carried out by using a standard finite volume code. Effect of
air pressure, fluid properties, and various geometric parameters of nozzle were considered to derive out an effective
microjet nozzle. The effect of various parameters on the microjet characteristics was studied using the commercial CFD
code ANSYS FLUENT 14.5. The motion of the driving piston which propels the fluid column is simulated by a moving
boundary method and the fluid dynamics is modeled using Eulerian VOF multiphase model. A condition of 50% level of
air-liquid in the injection chamber was considered for the simulation. A comparison with previous study [7] was carried out
for numerical validation. Figure 1 illustrates the phase fraction plots of the dynamic characteristics of the microjet emitted
from the injector nozzle. The images obtained from CFD provides a clear portrayal of the jet roll-up during the initial stages
of the injection process. CFD visualization also shows that a part of the jet atomizes resulting in the formation of fine spray.
Transient maximum velocity profile of water at outlet, for 1.7 bar and 5.4 bar driving pressure and corresponding facet
maximum phase profile of water at outlet are given in Figure 2. The behavior and performance characteristics of an air-
powered needle-free liquid injector could be successfully simulated using Eulerian/VOF approach coupled with dynamic
mesh and moving boundary method. Visualization showed that after an initial roll-up of high velocity jet there is no
considerable deviation in the jet characteristics. Experimental measurements with a tissue mimicking skin phantom was
carried out using a high speed camera to compare the outlet microjet velocity and fluid dispersion pattern with that of
simulations as shown in Figure 3. The CFD studies agree with the previous study and the experimental measurements and
the dominant parameters that affect the fluid microjet were derived out.

Figure 1. CFD results showing the time evolution of phase fraction of water jet driven through 200 µm nozzle by
5.4 bar driving pressure.
 (a) (b)

Figure 2. The time evolution of (a) maximum velocity of water (Facet Maximum) jet driven through 200 µm
nozzle by 5.4 bar and 1.7 bar driving pressure (b) phase fraction of water (Facet Maximum) jet driven through 200
µm nozzle by 5.4 bar and 1.7 bar driving pressure driving pressure.

(a) (b)

Figure 3. Measurement of fluid microjet dispersion in 25% polyacrylamide gel tissue phantoms
(a) 50% output pressure (b) 70% output pressure

REFERENCES
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[2] Kumar RB "Needle-free injection system" The Pharma Innovation 1 (2012) pp.57–72
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Biomechanical Engineering 132 (2010) pp.101005
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micro-shock waves" Clinical and Vaccine Immunology 18 (2011) pp.539–545
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Medical Engineering and Physics 30 (2008) pp.599–606
[6] Bader DL and Bowker P "Mechanical characteristics of skin and underlying tissues in vivo" Biomaterials 4 (1983) pp.305–308
[7] Nakayama H, Portaro R, Kiyanda CB and Ng HD "CFD modeling of high speed liquid jets from an air-powered needle-free injection
system" Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology 16 (2016) pp.1650045