Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Medical devices

A needle that softens on intravenous insertion

Nature Biomedical Engineering (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

An intravenous needle that undergoes a temperature-responsive shape change by softening on insertion into the body may induce less trauma than commercial devices for intravenous access.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: A needle that softens at body temperature.

References

  1. Rynd, M. Ill. Med. Surg. J. 2, 75–77 (1845).

  2. Wood, A. Edinb. Med. Surg. J. 82, 265–281 (1855).

  3. Seldinger, S. I. Acta Radiol. 39, 368–376 (1953).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. WHO Guideline on the Use of Safety-Engineered Syringes for Intramuscular, Intradermal and Subcutaneous Injections in Health Care Settings (World Health Organization, 2016); https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549820

  5. Schuurmans, J., Lutgens, S. P., Groen, L. & Schneeberger, P. M. J. Hosp. Infect. 100, 99–104 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. McGee, D. C. & Gould, M. K. N. Engl. J. Med. 20, 1123–1133 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Björkander, M., Bentzer, P., Schött, U., Broman, M. E. & Kander, T. Acta Anaesthesiol. Scand. 63, 61–68 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Zingg, W. & Pittet, D. Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents 1, S38–S42 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Agno, K.-C. et al. Nat. Biomed. Eng. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-023-01116-z (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Chen, S. et al. Adv. Healthc. Mater. 12, 2201924 (2023).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, UCD Centre for Biomedical Engineering and Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Eoin D. O’Cearbhaill

  2. CÚRAM, SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices, Galway, Ireland

    Eoin D. O’Cearbhaill

Authors
  1. Eoin D. O’Cearbhaill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eoin D. O’Cearbhaill.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

O’Cearbhaill, E.D. A needle that softens on intravenous insertion. Nat. Biomed. Eng (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-023-01171-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-023-01171-6

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research