The machine with cannabis oil | Nectar, the prot …

A group of industrial designers from the University of Buenos Aires has created a prototype designed to facilitate the extraction of vegetable oils in order to help those who need cannabis oil for their treatments. The machine for extracting essential oils for herbal medicine has been named Nectar.

The inventors behind the project are Franco di Paolo, Manuel Frontini, Patricio Martinez, Facundo Moura and Ignacio Riuz Jhonson, who launched the project to "address an existing social problem". Currently, the extraction of vegetable oils is considered a complicated process and presenting health risks because it requires toxic solvents. "Nectar greatly improves the typical processes, which use solvents leaving toxic residues", explain their creators in a video.

Young people saw the need and the opportunity to reflect on their thesis topic on industrial design in 2017, the same year the government regulated the 27 350 law, which governs medical and scientific research on the medicinal use of the cannabis plant and its derivatives.

The designers ensured that the sanction of the law was "a before and after" in research, given that the standard implements the "National Program for the Study and Investigation of Research". medicinal use of the cannabis plant, its derivatives and unconventional treatments. "

The difference of Nectar, besides its reduced size compared to other machines used in the rest of the world, lies in the fact that it uses a principle of supercritical fluid. The prototype uses only carbon dioxide to extract oils from all types of plants. In addition, it allows the customization of extraction, both temperature and maceration time. "This makes it possible to control the parameters of the extraction, with what allows us to extract selectively by guaranteeing the repeatability of the results," said its creators.

Last year, when they applied for Nectar in the Emprende ConCiencia competition (from the Invap Foundation), students explained that

The national study and research program on the medicinal use of the cannabis plant, its derivatives and unconventional treatments allows CONICET and INTA to grow cannabis. "Many cases of refractory epilepsy, cancer and other pathologies have not found improvement with traditional medicine and resort to the use of oils Essential homemade plants such as cannabis because it is the only treatment that relieves symptoms and improves health. " quality of life of patients. "However, they recalled, the oil supplied by the state is imported and obtained from a single strain" and concerns 20% of patients in treatment today. # 39; hui. Very precise specifications are necessary for each case and can not be performed properly both at home and in an industrial way without the necessary technology or appropriate research. "