Micro-needle
How do you design a pain-free needle?
Mosquito
This needle mimics how a female mosquito sucks up blood. Females mosquitoes suck up blood by flexing and relaxing muscles which creates suction.
About the needle
The regular steel hypodermic needle hits the maximum number of nerves which makes the shot very uncomfortable and painful. The needle that they have created is highly specialized to touch the skin and nerves way less than the needle they have now. The micro-needle scientist tested made the shot less painful, but it made the patient more uncomfortable for a long period of time. Once they did some research, they realized that they needed to mimic one of the seven mouth parts of the female mosquito to make the discomfort go away fully.
The differences of the hypodermic needle and the micro-needle and pictures
Steel hypodermic needle
It's very smooth and when patients get shots or blood drawn there is discomfort and pain.
Micro-needle
Very small and rigged. Hits little amount of nerves but discomfort stays longer.
It is guaranteed to be less painful and it's a great solution when kids get shots!
History of needles
An Irish physician, Francis Rynd, invented the very first hollow needle and used it to make the first recorded substance ejection. Back then, it was specified to only be used when curing neuralgia in 1844. And then Charles Pravaz and Alexander Wood developed a medical hypodermic syringe with a needle fine enough to pierce the skin.
Charles Pravaz
The man who helped design the medical hypodermic syringe with needle.
Alexander Wood
The man who helped design the medical hypodermic syringe with needle.