Inspired by origami, this collapsible syringe provides an eco-friendly alternative to reduce biomedical waste!





Billions of needles and syringes are used each year, including needles used for injections made by those who are healthcare professionals and those who are not. When improperly disposed of, needle and syringe waste can create a serious biohazard since the inner tubing’s infected blood cannot be broken down or processed through recycling. This mass accumulation of waste might reach a peak with the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, but one designer has already taken to the drawing board for solutions. Helix, a collapsible syringe, was designed by Daniel López Velasco & Ithzel Libertad Cerón López as a green alternative to the disposable devices used in today’s health sector.

A conventional syringe, those plastic tubes with the string-thin steel needle, requires the use of five different materials for construction including steel, polyethylene, rubber, resin, glue, and thermal dye. To make the construction process less laborious and costly, Helix is constructed from a single material: FlexiOH UV, a heat-curable type of silicone. To maintain Helix’s collapsible parts’ flexibility and the needle’s rigidity, the designers employed thermal-curing, a temperature-induced hardening process.

Inspired by the ability to compact lots of volume and space through the paper-folding art of origami, Helix’s crystalline, silicone structure is able to carry liquids for vaccines and be emptied once collapsed. Medication can be poured into Helix through a vacuum loading inlet located above the needle’s rigid plunger. Then, when ready for use, the rigid plunger sinks down and compresses the collapsible plunger, successfully and safely administering the medication to the patient through the rigid silicone needle.

In constructing Helix from a single material and giving it a compact, collapsible structure, the designers created a green alternative to the conventional syringe and needle, reducing its size by 30%. The issue of biomedical waste might be reaching a peak with the onset of 2020’s global pandemic and the upcoming vaccine rollout, but designs like Helix help streamline safe healthcare practices while maintaining World Health Organization and environmental standards.

Designers: Daniel López Velasco & Ithzel Libertad Cerón López

Entirely constructed from a single material, each Helix syringe is made from FlexiOH UV, a heat-curable type of silicone.

Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, Helix employs a collapsible method for giving safe doses of medication.





The rigid needle of Helix is made from the same material as the rest of the collapsible syringe.

The silicone needle is strong enough to substitute the steel needle.

The rigidity of Helix’s needle and the flexibility of the syringe was achieved through a process called Thermal-curing.

Medication is loaded into Helix through a vacuum loading inlet located at the top of the syringe.

When in use, the collapsible syringe administers medication to the patient through a double hollow, allowing the medication to flow freely.

Without the need to remove the needle from the syringe before disposal, Helix can be disposed of completely.

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The New Needle

For those of my friends who like to do needlepoint, I have a great design here; one that will remove all frustrations when it comes to dropped needles. The 20° Needle is a great concept – it features a 20° bend on the eye and this helps you pick it up, should it ever fall down. The bend is slight enough for you to sew easily without a hitch.

Designers: Huang- Yu Chen & Shih Ting Huang

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(The New Needle was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Nikolai Aldunin’s Teeny Tiny Sculptures are So Small They Fit Inside the Eye of a Needle

For a moment there, I wasn’t sure if these sculptures were real, however, they are. These incredibly tiny sculptures were created by an artist using a microscope. They are incredibly detailed for art of this scale, and I imagine need to be quite careful when you’re around it, otherwise it could be crushed or simply blown away.

nikolai aldinin tiny sculptures

Russian artist Nikolai Aldunin has to keep his hands perfectly still in order to build his microscopic art. He takes inspiration about a Russian folk tale about Levsha, a left-handed craftsman so talented that the was able to put horseshoes onto a flea, and cues from the Bible.

nikolai aldinin tiny sculptures bicycle

Nikolai uses syringes, toothpicks, and superglue to make his art, and he works under a microscope as he crafts them.

nikolai aldinin tiny sculptures tank

[via Daily Mail via designboom]

Robopsy is a low-cost, disposable patient-mounted medical robot

Robopsy is a lowcost, disposable patientmounted medical robot

In a less gelatin-centric demo, the Harvard-based team behind the Robotically Steerable Probe showed off some Robopsy devices during our visit to the school, rings that can help medical imaging technology like CT, ultrasound and MR physically pinpoint precise locations on patients. The devices, which can hold up to ten needles, are lightweight, mounting directly on patients via adhesives or straps. The medical robots are made largely of inexpensive injection molded plastic parts, making them disposable after they've been used on a patient, popping the motors and other control electronics onto another device. In all, the team says Robopsy rings are "orders of magnitude" cheaper and lighter than other medical robotic devices. Check out a video of the one of the Robopsy devices running after the break.

Continue reading Robopsy is a low-cost, disposable patient-mounted medical robot

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Robopsy is a low-cost, disposable patient-mounted medical robot originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Robotically Steerable Probe aims at minimally invasive surgery, moves through gelatin like a champ

Robotically Steerable Thermal Ablation Probe aims at more minimally invasive surgery, moves through gelatin like a champ

Who doesn't prefer to have the word "surgery" preceded by the phrase "minimally invasive?" During our trip to the Harvard research labs today, we were given a demo of the Robotically Steerable Thermal Ablation Probe, a device designed to help minimize the number of injections required when treating something like a tumor. The machine is guided by a x-ray image onto which a doctor can choose a number of destinations. Rather than being forced to re-inject the patient, the outer cannula moves up and down to locate the position, with a thinner curved stylet extends from within it, reaching the designated area. In order to hit subsequent spots, the stylet retracts back into the cannula, which adjusts its up and down position, extending once again to reach the area. Applications for the technology extend beyond just injection, including the possibility of extracting tissue samples from a patient.

You can check out a demo of the device doing its work after the break. But don't worry, it's just gelatine.

Continue reading Robotically Steerable Probe aims at minimally invasive surgery, moves through gelatin like a champ

Robotically Steerable Probe aims at minimally invasive surgery, moves through gelatin like a champ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MIT’s needleless injections help you get drugs faster, doesn’t even hurt (video)

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Afraid of needles? You may not have to be if a team of MIT scientists get their way. Researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering are developing a jet-injection device (similar to this one) that allows professionals to pump you full of meds without poking you with a needle. The key to puncture free pharmaceuticals is pressure -- the device uses a Lorenz Force actuator to push medicine out of an opening about the diameter of a mosquito's proboscis. The nozzle pulls liquids out just as fast and efficiently as it administers them, researchers say, and can even deliver powder-based drugs as if they were a liquid, thanks to a bit of supersonic trickery. This tech could be a boon to healthcare workers who get pricked on the job or patients who get daily insulin shots. Promises of painless inoculations piquing your interest? Hit the video after the break to see how its done.

Continue reading MIT's needleless injections help you get drugs faster, doesn't even hurt (video)

MIT's needleless injections help you get drugs faster, doesn't even hurt (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 04:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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