An estimate in December 1992 shows the magnitude of the American AIDS crisis to be 171,890 dead, 81,558 suffering from AIDS, and an estimated 1 million HIV positive (CDC). Intravenous (IV) drug users have been identified as major vectors for the spread of AIDS in the general population because of sharing and re-use of hypodermic needles. With no vaccine in sight and re-education lengthy and sometimes ineffective, a technological solution to discourage needle-sharing is imperative. One such solution--a competitively priced, single-use automatically and permanently retracting syringe - was developed during Phase I of our project. Phase I research resulted in manufacture of several working prototypes suitable for mass production and clearly demonstrating that the innovative solution to needle-sharing is the retraction function that makes sharing impossible. The five main objectives of Phase II are: 1) refinement of the Checkmate Engineering (CE) 3cc non-reusable, retractable syringe to a production model; 2) production of 50,000 of the CE 3cc syringe for clinical testing; 3) development of a 1cc non-reusable retractable syringe utilizing a similar retraction mechanism; 4) clinical testing for acceptance of the CE 3cc syringe at Parkland Memorial Hospital, TCOM, Dallas County Health Department, Denton County Health Department, Dallas Home Therapeutics I, Inc., Texas Health Resources and ten private physicians selected from throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex: and 5) formulation of a Phase III business plan.
