I would really like to make a better way to get a shot that doesn't hurt so much. – Jacob, 10, Cayman Islands
melissamayerDear Jacob,
I love vaccines. They keep us safe from germs that can make us sick. But I don’t love how much shots hurt. Sometimes I feel anxious before I visit the veterinarian for a vaccine.
I talked about that with my friend Roland Chen. He’s an engineer at Washington State University.
He’s working on brand-new needles that could make shots painless. They’re called microneedle arrays.
“You feel pain because the needle reaches the pain receptor,” Chen said. “Microneedles are much shorter than typical needles. They’re about one-third to half the size.”
Most vaccines are intramuscular injections. A trained healthcare provider gently slides … » More …
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