'Mosquito needle' helps take the sting out of injections

摘要

LOOK away now if you are afraid of needles. A motorised, harpoon-like needle sounds painful, but in fact hurts far less than a regular injection because it resembles a mosquito's mouth parts. Seiji Aoyagi and colleagues at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan, have developed a needle that mimics a mosquito's proboscis, which is serrated and barely touches the skin so you don't feel the initial bite. A smooth hypodermic, on the other hand, leaves a lot of metal in contact with the skin, stimulating the nerves and causing pain.