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Comfortably Numb

Numbing Agent to Pair With the Common Hypodermic Needle

 

Member profile details

Membership level
2014-2015 Team
Team Name
Comfortably Numb
Project Title
Numbing Agent to Pair With the Common Hypodermic Needle
Design Challenge
We will design an attachment to the existing needle mechanism that will quickly diminish pain when the injection is administered. We ultimately want a method that works faster and is less costly than existing means of numbing. Unfortunately, conventional means of numbing include complications. Topical creams can be expensive and time consuming. Injected anesthetics still cause pain and fear as they still include penetrating the skin. As a result, a patient must wait for disproportionately long time or endure an injection in sometimes very sensitive areas.
Design Summary
We have created a device to ease the pain of a common injection. Our device locally numbs the injection site prior to an injection by producing a rapid endothermic reaction to cool the patient’s skin. We currently have a functioning prototype that has shown to produce a measurable numbing effect in 60 seconds to reduce the pain from an injection. Our device is 3D printed and consists of two sealed chambers containing the chemicals ammonium nitrate and water. A simple twisting motion moves the chambers into alignment to allow the chemicals to flow through the chamber to produce a rapid endothermic reaction. We then numb the skin by contacting the device’s metal surface to the patient’s skin. Our device is novel because it is easily manufactured using 3D printing and utilizes common chemicals and materials.
Sponsors
OEDK
Department(s)
  • Freshman Design
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Faculty Advisor 1 - Name
K. Jane Grande-Allen
Faculty Advisor 1 - Department
  • BIOE

Contact us

Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen
Rice University

6100 Main Street MS 390 | Houston, Texas | 77005

Phone: 713.348.OEDK

Email: oedk@rice.edu

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