Our team worked on developing a device that would reduce the pain of injections by numbing skin immediately before. The project started out in a freshman engineering design course at Rice and blossomed into a longer term project, with a foray into commercialization.
Press: Fast Company | Rice | Gizmodo | KHOU | ASME | CNET | Laughing Squid
The design utilizes the gate theory of pain perception: the idea that introducing non-painful sensory inputs inhibits the sensing of painful inputs. Our design utilizes a endothermic reaction of ammonium nitrate and water (the same reaction in instant cold packs) to cool down the skin. The cold contact surface is held onto skin for one minute before removing the device and administering the injection.
Using a multi-material Object 260 3D printer, we prototyped dozens of different versions of the device for testing. The final iteration used two chambers holding ammonium nitrate and water separate. Twisting the device turns the rubber seals separating the two chambers and aligns the holes, creating a conduit for the reactants to mix.
As sophomores, we applied for and acquired a provisional patent for our device. We later incorporated as Numbrr Solutions LLC to secure a licensing deal for our designs, so that a larger company would be able to secure clinical approval, manufacture, and distribute the device. Our talks with a mail-service medicine company fell through, and we decided to unincorporate and close the project.
The team: Greg Allison (Cognitive Science), Mike Hua (Mechanical Engineering), Matt O'Gorman (Mechanical Engineering), Akhil Surapaneni (Bioengineering), Andy Zhang (Bioengineering) with previous members Christopher Chee (Electrical Engineering) and Michael Gray (Mechanical Engineering)
Advisors: Dr. Mehdi Razavi, Dr. Matthew Wettergreen, Dr. Ann Saterbak, Dr. Jane Grande-Allen