Sep 30
Sep 15
Every year, many diseases are transmitted between people because some practitioners use unsterile or reused syringes to administer injections, sometimes unknowingly. Data from the World Health Organization indicate that almost 40% of the annual 40 billion injections being administered worldwide use these dirty syringes.
Trying to bring this number down is Dr. David Swann from the Huddersfield University in England with his ABC Syringe. It’s described as a tamper-proof syringe that comes delivered in a nitrogen-filled pack. The syringe’s barrel is actually coated with a special ink which changes color upon exposure to the carbon dioxide in air.
Once it’s exposed to CO2, the clear ink changes color to a very bright and very striking red–a color that can’t be easily missed or ignored.
Dr. Swann explained: “When you compare a sterile syringe just out of its packaging with a syringe that’s been washed, how do you determine the difference? We conceived an intelligent ink that, if exposed to air by taking it out of the package or if the package is breached, would activate it and turn it red.”
The ABC Syringe is currently a finalist at the Index Awards in Denmark.
[via C|NET]
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