Rice University undergraduates develop a quick and easy way to numb the skin, making shots virtually pain-free
Getting the flu shot is one of the many rituals that comes once a year, inoculating the population against a potentially life-threatening disease. However, for some, especially children, the experience can be frightening and painful. However, that may soon change thanks to a Rice University students’s 3D-printed invention.
The Comfortably Numb is a simple device that numbs the skin to decrease the sensation of the injection. The team of three freshmen, include Andy Zhang, Mika Hua, and Greg Allison, developed this easy-to-produce mechanism to create a portable and ready to use ice pack. The small device is composed of a 3D printed cylinder containing two chambers, one with water and the other with ammonium nitrate, and a metal plate attached at one end. When the device is activated by twisting the top, the two chambers open and the chemical reaction that occurs cools the metal plate, just like a cold pack.
From there, a physician or other medical worker places the plate against the skin to numb the are and then inject the vaccine.
While ice packs serve the same purpose and are more readily available, the Comfortably Numb is just the beginning of a bigger project. Eventually, the team hopes to develop a device that will numb and inject with one go, making vaccinations, shots, and injections of any kind painless and quick. After all, as Allison says in a statement released by Rice University, they are still just freshman engineering students:
Read more: Thank 3D Printing for a Painless Flu Shot
The Latest on: 3d printing
[google_news title=”” keyword=”3d printing” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: 3d printing
- See what it's like living in Portugal's first 3D printed, 2-bedroom concrete homeon May 7, 2024 at 12:59 pm
If companies like Portugal-based Havelar have their way, the future of affordable housing will look like perfectly stacked strands of spaghetti (as in, they'd be 3D printed). Printing-construction ...
- Farsoon introduces large-format 12-laser metal 3D printer at TCT Asiaon May 7, 2024 at 9:46 am
The developer of polymer laser sintering and metal laser melting systems says the FS811M features one of the biggest build volumes on the metal laser powder bed fusion market at 840 × 840 x 960mm.
- This gigantic 3D printer could reinvent manufacturingon May 7, 2024 at 2:00 am
A massive additive manufacturing device that can build houses, and a whole lot more has just been unveiled at the University of Maine.
- Art, 3D printing among Rodman activities this monthon May 6, 2024 at 10:31 pm
Children ages 6-12 can register for the Summer Art Experience, a series of art lessons taught by local instructors during June. Youngsters must visit the children’s circulation desk at the Main ...
- Endeavor 3D adopts Materialise CO-AM platform to supplement HP 3D printing capacityon May 6, 2024 at 9:00 am
The contract manufacturer says its integrated the CO-AM platform in response to rising demand for industrial additive manufacturing in highly regulated and demanding industries.
- FFF 3D Printing: Can New Nozzle Technology Replace Resin Printers?on May 3, 2024 at 2:47 pm
Do you need a resin 3D printer when FFF devices now approach similar levels of surface quality? That sounds like a crazy question. For many years it’s been 3D print gospel that resin equipment ...
- Publicly Traded 3D Printing Companies: Who’s Really Making Money?on May 3, 2024 at 2:43 pm
A bit of corporate 3D print company analysis today. Martin Lansard of Anissa posted an interesting chart of publicly traded 3D print company revenues on LinkedIn, shown here: The chart shows the major ...
- 3D Printing Finds a Homeon May 2, 2024 at 8:49 am
“Prefabricated 3D printed homes reduce the amount of labor required to build a home, thereby making homes safer, potentially cheaper, and much faster from design to completion,” says Buff López, an ...
- Study unveils 3D printing PQD-polymer architectures at room temperatureon May 2, 2024 at 7:52 am
A technology enabling the fabrication of intricate three-dimensional (3D) quantum dot (QD)-based structures at room temperature has been developed.
- A 3D Printer On Every Desk? Why Companies Are Buying More 3D Printerson May 2, 2024 at 4:56 am
Entry-level desktop 3D printers saw record sales in 2023. It’s not the number of machines sold that’s surprising; it’s who’s buying them: businesses.
via Bing News
