Ceramic microneedles to make injections painless
By Darren Murph 
posted January 12th 2008 8:54PM
posted January 12th 2008 8:54PM
Rest assured, we've "seen" methods of delivering injections sans pain, but we've yet to actually experience this phenomenon ourselves. If Dr. Roger Narayan has anything to do about it, however, we may not feel even a pinch the next time the blood drive comes calling. A team of researchers led by the aforementioned individual has reportedly been able to use "two-photon polymerization of organically modified ceramic (Ormocer) hybrid materials to create microneedles resistant to breakage," and they can also be made in a wider range of sizes than metal counterparts. It's said that these very needles would be "so fine that patients wouldn't feel them piercing their skin," and while that sure sounds delightful, we've no idea how many more visits we'll make before finding one of these in the nurse's hand.[Via medGadget, image courtesy of Rice]
Wouldn't velocity increase as the bore gets smaller? The needle itself wouldn't hurt, but the high velocity fluid might. Also, viscosity of the fluid would limit the functionality of these needles...
Studies have shown that watching television decreases the perceived pain of all sorts of things in children. They should have SpongeBob squarepants playing in the doctor's offices.
Really, though, this is more for something like insulin injection
that you must do everyday. They already use very thin needles for that. This sounds promising. How about crossing a mosquito with the gene for insulin production. Then you just let it bite you :0
Needles don't hurt. Why the fuck does anyone care?
it's not the pinch of the needle that causes pain. its the change in pressure at the injection site that causes it. im a dentist and i give a ton of injections every day. the trick is to inject very slowly and use other physical or psychological distractions.
Don't share these either.
I'm diabetic. There have been times when I've been injected with a 31-gauge needle and I really couldn't feel it, let alone have any painful sensation. That's the thinnest available. A needle that's, say, half that diameter could still deliver a usable flow and be practically undetectable.
When there's pain, it comes from the volume of the dose, not the needle prick. Mind you, that's subcutaneous, not intravenous or intramuscular.
You can't even get a Vitamin-B12 injection with one of these. I doubt there are many substances injectable with this needle, without blowing the top off, in order to get something out of it. I guess they have to hook air compressors to the needles?
Okay, lets get some things clear. Many sizes of needle exist today, but the smallest are rarely used for injection because the flow rate through narrow needles is very slow. If you increased the number of needles to match the current interior "area" of existing needles, the resulting total needle size would be too large. Furthermore, the could never be used for blood draw because many of the blood cells (reticulocytes, etc) would be larger than the needle's bore. Other than just about every practical reason that they suck, it's a great idea.