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Research finds four keys to piercing skin without hurting
Researchers at The Ohio State University believe we can learn from nature's design of the mosquito to create a painless microneedle for medical purposes.
"Mosquitoes must be doing something right if they can pierce our skin and draw blood without causing pain," said Bharat Bhushan, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Howard D. Winbigler Professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State.
"We can use what we have learned from mosquitoes as a starting point to create a better microneedle."
In a recently published paper, Bhushan and his colleagues reported on their detailed analysis of the mosquito's proboscis -- the part that feeds on us. They identified four keys to how the insects pierce us without pain: use of a numbing agent; a serrated design to the "needle"; vibration during the piercing; and a combination of soft and hard parts on the proboscis.
Lessons from mosquitoes' painless piercing (DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2018.05.025) (DX)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snotnose on Friday June 29 2018, @03:39AM (6 children)
Trade a couple seconds of a pinprick for a week's worth of scratching.
Too lazy to google it, but I'm pretty sure you don't notice the mosquito using his dinner fork because she sprays a numbing agent to the skin just before saying grace.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Friday June 29 2018, @03:47AM (2 children)
That simple Google search would have stopped you from spreading misinformation.
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+causes+mosquito+bites+to+itch [google.com] (search suggested by GOOG, I was typing "what causes mosquito pain")
https://www.terminix.com/pest-control/mosquitoes/bites/why-do-bites-itch/ [terminix.com]
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320979.php [medicalnewstoday.com]
Not applicable to a microneedle patch.
From an eerily similar article:
Painless needle mimics a mosquito’s bite [newscientist.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 29 2018, @05:58AM (1 child)
Did they just assume the mosquito's gender? Such bigotry... Maybe the mosquito identifies as a male?
(Score: 4, Informative) by KritonK on Friday June 29 2018, @09:52AM
According to https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/mosquitoes.html [loc.gov]:
So, yes, her.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 29 2018, @04:12AM
No need to Google: that's in the summary.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Friday June 29 2018, @05:44PM (1 child)
Best way to get rid of the itch is to run water over it as hot as you can stand for 10-15 seconds. A hot shower usually does the trick. Obviously don't use water hot enough to scald.
A washcloth soaked in hot water works for areas that are harder to get under the hot water tap, or if a shower isn't readily available.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday June 29 2018, @10:01PM
Just what I never wanted. Trade a week's worth of itching to a lifetime of scarring :)
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.