Starfleet and the united Federation of Planets create a lot of innovative technologies that
are deployed to their member worlds. Many professions have such intricate devices added
to their toolkits and today we are looking at one of the most prolific medical tools,
the hypospray. So this little device’s singular purpose
was to administer chemicals into the body like a syringe and is found in both sickbays
and as part of your standard medkit. Every cadet will learn how to use these to both
administer and take samples. The first hyposprays on Starfleet vessels date as far back as the
pre-Federation Starfleet of the 2150s coming across to Earth with the inter-species medical
exchange, but humanity has been familiar with the methodology behind the devices for centuries
before that. In essence, the device uses high pressure
to spray particles through the skin of a person and into the body. Such delivery allows for
the a more sterile application of medicine as there is no injection needle, reducing
contamination and allowing for the same hypospray to be used on multiple people without transferring
blood borne illnesses or different species incompatibilities.
Recorded accidents with Grease-guns date back to the 19th century, giving discovery of this
new delivery system. In 1866, Doctor Jean Sales-Girons GEARON invented a the first example
of what could be termed a nebuliser where medicine was reduced to smaller particulates
for inhalation, but it wasn’t until 1935 that Arnold Sutermeister and Doctor John Roberts
created a something more akin to the hypospray. A few years later (1947), and the first hypospray
was created and underwent much testing and usage for inoculations and treatments among
large populaces such as the military. As time went on however, the device was revealed to
have its own set of problems and not completely contamination free. The wound left was also
longer lasting than that of a needle and apparently rather more painful, depending on the model.
The idea however is sound and has seen numerous adaptations and advancements with greater
technological breakthroughs. There now exist several different varieties of needle-free-injections
and it’s one of the many sci-fi technologies rapidly become more feasible.
Back to Trek now, and by 2150s, the issues outlined above seem to have all been addressed.
The Earth hypospray was a grey box with the nozzle and a slot for fitting the chemical
cylinder. The device would receive a chemical and then fire the spray through the pours
of the skin when the trigger was pressed, this was powerful enough to even pass through
several layers of cloth clothing, such as the early Starfleet uniforms. Most common
spray sites included the upper arm and the neck, depending on the treatment. I expect
the neck was used as it was home to prominent arteries, a far more rapid delivery of whatever
drug was prescribed. They could also be used to take samples, somehow.
Buy the next century, the hypospray had evolved into a longer and narrower device, replacing
the bulkier versions in use a decade before. But functioned in much the same way, again
still able to pass its contents through clothing. The only real improvement was in capacity
as a single spay could dose up to ten people. By the 2350s and onwards, the device had shrunken
in size once again, but could hold larger quantities of serums. They still functioned
in basically the same way, with a slot for a vial and a nozzle to administer the liquids.
The latest one we see is from 2399 and is roughly the same size, but angled to make
neck level delivery easier, maybe? Of course the medbay in which it was synthesised was
full on out-fo-date equipment anyway, so it could have been older still.
Hyposprays were used to administer many different compounds and medicines, for various functions.
Inoculations against hazards, vaccinations against disease and of course treatment for
illness or pain. Many of these compounds that could be delivered are based on real life
medicines or the bodies own naturally occurring chemicals such as adrenaline but many are
fictional. And from what I can tell, different real medicines suffixes actually are a descriptor
of their function where as some of these made up ones are just that; made up to sound medical-ish.
Maybe any watching Blue-shirts could confirm but I couldn’t spot a trend.
Impedrazine was used to aid in cardiovascular functions as was Metrazene
Cordrazine was a powerful Stimulant originally designed to restore neural activity on emerging
from cryostasis, it was since adopted and adapted for other uses. Other stimulants included
Inaprovoline or the appropriately named Hyperzine. Opposite this we have sedative of various
potencies to be used in various situations. For example, one patient or species may be
allergic to a certain chemical so another is to be used or perhaps it would mix with
another medication. Ambizine, Anethizine, Axonol, Melorazine, Neurozine and Tetrovaline
to name a few. Improvoline was another mild sedative, not to be confused with Inaprovoline,
the potent stimulant. There were also analgesics or “painkillers”
such as Asinolyathin, Metorapan and Hydrocortilene, some were generalised and some targeted certain
types of pain such as muscle cramp or headaches. Arithrazine was a powerful anti-radiation
compound used to treat major radiation poisoning. Netrazine was a milder alternative and there
are numerous unnamed inoculations that actually granted temporary immunity to various radiations.
Other compounds were even more specialised such as Tri-Ox, a high oxygenating compound
added to the bloodstream to compensate for low-oxygen environments until it wore off.
Experimental compounds included such medicines as Vasokin which drastically improved blood
flow, but in 22 percent of cases, caused organ failure in most humanoids.
There is a great variety in these chemicals and many that I’ve not mentioned, which
makes sense as not only are they for different purposes, but they’re created by numerous
species from many different planets each with their own unique quirks of biology. However,
the humble hypospray has not received the same diversification.
Basically, the hypospray’s design has not really changed since its flaws were ironed
out. The delivery system may have gotten smaller, but this is countered by other factors. Chiefly,
it needs to remain ergonomic. Making technology smaller is all well and good, but there comes
a point where there is… no… point. The device still needs to fit into humanoid hand
and be large enough to not fumble its usage so I think, as far as hyposprays are involved
the technology has kind of peaked. Future variations might simply move away from
such devices altogether, I mean transporters are a thing and they already have a decontamination
function that removes any foreign microbes from the data stream of a person mid transport
and then reassembles them without any harmful pathogens. So perhaps this would be another
method of inoculations? For example, say you need to beam down to an irradiated planet.
Just load a serum into the transporter buffer an then beam down, no need for a visit to
sickbay first as it just adds the anti-radiation protection to your reassembly pattern.
Anyway, that’s just speculation for another time. Thanks for watching this video on what
we know on the evolution of the Hypospray and I hope it was informative. I’ve been
Ric and I’ll see you again next time for another video. Thanks again and goodbye!