Hypospray
| Hypospray | |
|---|---|
| Plot element from the Star Trek franchise | |
| First appearance | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| Created by | Gene Roddenberry |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| In-story information | |
| Type | Medical tool |
| Function | Used to inject medication into a patient's body |
| Affiliation | Starfleet |
A hypospray is a fictional version of a jet injector. Sometimes it is used as a verb, "to hypospray", meaning "to use a hypospray on (someone/something)".
A hypospray is mentioned in The Dagger Affair by David McDaniel, #4 in the series of novels set in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. universe. "Yes," said the disembodied voice, "the gas is generally preferable, but is often impractical, such as in the case of one subject in a crowd, as with Mr. Kuryakin. Under these circumstances, either slipping the drug into their cider, or in some situations injecting it with a hypospray..."
In the Star Trek universe, the hypospray was developed by the mid-22nd century, as it is featured in Star Trek: Enterprise. Many people, such as Dr. Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager, are seen to use it.
The real-life jet injector is usually applied at the top of the arm, but the fictional hypospray is sometimes applied on the neck. Presumably when used in the neck it delivers the medication intravenously or intra-arterially and when used on the arm it delivers intramuscularly. The hypospray can also be applied through clothing.
The hypospray is extremely versatile as the medicine vials can be quickly swapped out from the bottom of the hypospray. As the hypospray is bloodless, it is not contaminated by use. This allows it to be used on many people until the supply of medicine runs out.
The concept of the hypospray was developed when producers on the original Star Trek series discovered that NBC's broadcast standards and practices prohibited the use of hypodermic syringes to inject medications; the needleless hypospray sidestepped this issue. The prop used in the original series appeared to be a modified fuel injector for a large automotive diesel engine.
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