Disposable Hypodermic Needle Research Articles

Intradermal Hyaluronidase: The Answer to Treatment in Softening a Fibrous Thick Supratip Skin in Rhinoplasty?

ABSTRACT
 It is a common goal for rhinoplastic surgeons to make the best-looking tip with proper projection, maintaining the tip lobule appearance with a supratip break. (Figure 1) However, a fibrous thick skin with fullness may not achieve the ideal tip. It is one of the nuisances in rhinoplasty that makes tip definition surgery difficult. The supratip area remains firm and convex causing a wide bulbous feature of the tip. Several techniques have been introduced with good results however some may still result in supratip fullness because of the firm fibrous nature of thick skin.1-3 Hyaluronidase is an enzyme that depolymerizes hyaluronic acid which is present in the epithelium.4 The use of intradermal hyaluronidase for thick skin was discovered by the junior author (JMP) in one of his rhinoplasties when he injected hyaluronidase in a nose with fillers containing hyaluronic acid. The fillers not only instantly dissolved but the skin also softened, so he tried injecting intradermally in his subsequent rhinoplasties on non-filler noses with fibrous thick skin and indeed found the same effect of softening of the fibrous supratip skin. We here describe the technique used in this preliminary clinical series.
 METHODS
 A vial of 1,500 I.U. of hyaluronidase (Liporase, Skin Lab Medical, Essex, UK) is mixed with 1.0 ml of Normal Saline Solution (NSS) and 0.1 - 0.2ml (150u – 300u) is aspirated and may be diluted with 0.8ml of PNSS in a 1 cc tuberculin syringe or given as concentrated dose. Intradermal injection into fibrous thick skin can be performed intraoperatively before incision or after closure when defatting and tip grafts are put in place but still with supratip fullness. The areas to be injected are the supratip and its sides. (Figure 2).
 A disposable hypodermic needle gauge 30 is used to inject intradermally or subdermally in minute amounts until blanching is noted. These injections are given at equally random spacing. Immediately after injection, finger pressure massage is applied at the supratip area for 1-3 minutes to soften the skin and allow redraping of the skin and soft tissue envelope (SSTE).

Needle-in-needle Pinning Technique Using Disposable Hypodermic Needles for Fractures of Distal Phalanx With Dorsal Disruption.

Fingertip injuries are frequently encountered by the hand surgeon, and often present with a combination of the following: avulsed or broken nail plate, nail bed disruption, and/or distal phalangeal fracture. Recommended management of these injuries consists of reduction of the fracture followed by repair of soft tissues. To achieve an anatomic reduction and sufficient stability of the fracture, current management consists of temporary Kirschner-wire stabilization. Hypodermic needles can be substituted to secure temporary transosseous fixation. We describe a technique for stabilizing open distal phalangeal fracture using hypodermic needles which are readily available. Eight patients over 12 months have been treated with this technique which has proven to be successful. We would advocate that providers consider this technique when Kirschner-wires or other necessary instruments are unavailable.

Effect of Needle Brand, Needle Bevel Grind, and Silicone Lubrication on Contamination of Joints With Tissue and Hair Debris After Arthrocentesis

To assess contamination of joints with tissue and hair debris after arthrocentesis. Experimental. Fetlock joint tissues (n = 6 horses). Soft tissue flaps including joint capsule were dissected from the dorsal aspect of fetlock joints of 6 anesthetized horses leaving an intact proximal base ("live" model) or with complete excision and immediate mounting to a wooden frame ("fresh" model). Needles were inserted through joint tissues and saline solution was flushed through them into tissue culture plate wells, and then examined for tissue and hair debris. Nine needle types were assessed; variables included needle brand, needle bevel grind, needle size, and silicone lubrication. No significant difference was detected between "live" and "fresh" models for hair or tissue contamination. Compared to 20 g hypodermic needles, 19 g lubricated and 19 g non-lubricated needles had a significantly greater odds ratio (OR) for hair contamination. Nineteen-gauge non-lubricated needles had a significantly greater OR for hair contamination than 19 g lubricated needles. No significant differences in ORs were identified between type of needle bevel grind, brands of disposable hypodermic needles, or brands of spinal needles for hair or tissue contamination. Nineteen-gauge needles significantly increase the risk of joint contamination with hair compared to 20 g needles; non-lubricated 19 g needles have the greatest risk. All other needle types tested in this study have similar risks for tissue and hair contamination after arthrocentesis.

Convergent Replication of Mouse Synthetic Prion Strains

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the aberrant folding of endogenous proteins into self-propagating pathogenic conformers. Prion disease can be initiated in animal models by inoculation with amyloid fibrils formed from bacterially derived recombinant prion protein. The synthetic prions that accumulated in infected organisms are structurally distinct from the amyloid preparations used to initiate their formation and change conformationally on repeated passage. To investigate the nature of synthetic prion transformation, we infected mice with a conformationally diverse set of amyloids and serially passaged the resulting prion strains. At each passage, we monitored changes in the biochemical and biological properties of the adapting strain. The physicochemical properties of each synthetic prion strain gradually changed on serial propagation until attaining a common adapted state with shared physicochemical characteristics. These results indicate that synthetic prions can assume multiple intermediate conformations before converging into one conformation optimized for in vivo propagation.

Shiao needle sleeve: a new depth control sleeve that fits different sized needles for creating recipient sites

1. Tseng-Kuo Shiao, MD 2. Jessica C. Shiao 3. I-Sen Shiao, MD (uhr{at}att.net) 1. Overland Park, Kansas Despite the popularity of custom cut blades in recent years, many hair transplant surgeons still prefer disposable hypodermic needles for recipient incisions. Reasons for this preference

Disposable Carrier for Retrograde Fillings

Commercially available retrograde filling carriers are delicate and easily damaged by pressure. In addition, they are difficult to clean and keep free from blockage. This report describes a simple and easy technique for transforming a standard disposable hypodermic syringe and needle into a disposable carrier for retrograde fillings.

Surgical Pearl: Enucleation of milia with a disposable hypodermic needle

J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;47:000-0.

HYPODERMIC NEEDLES

To study the clinico-microbiologic profile and visual prognosis of ocular injuries caused by disposable hypodermic needles used by children to squirt water. We analyzed 19 consecutive cases of hypodermic needle injury seen at our institute. The average age of the patients was 10.3 years (range, 4-20 years). A small self-sealed corneal or scleral laceration was seen in 11 eyes; in 8 eyes, the site of injury was occult. Initial visual acuity was no light perception (3 eyes) or hand motion or light perception (16 eyes). Surgery in 18/19 eyes included vitrectomy with intraocular antibiotic injections for endophthalmitis (14 eyes), evisceration for panophthalmitis (2 eyes), and cataract extraction for traumatic cataract (2 eyes). Final visual acuity was no light perception or light perception only in 10 eyes, 20/400-20/60 in three eyes, and 20/40 or better in six eyes. Severe ocular morbidity may result from improper disposal of hypodermic needles.

E.E. Just Lecture, 1996. Conus venom peptides, receptor and ion channel targets, and drug design: 50 million years of neuropharmacology.

The predatory cone snails (Conus) are among the most successful living marine animals (∼500 living species). Each Conus species is a specialist in neuropharmacology, and uses venom to capture prey, to escape from and defend against predators and possibly to deter competitors. An individual cone snail’s venom contains a diverse mixture of pharmacological agents, mostly small, structurally constrained peptides (conotoxins). Individual peptides are selectively targeted to a specific isoform of receptor or ion channel. A variety of such targets have been identified, including many voltage-gated and ligand-gated ion channel subtypes, as well as G protein-linked receptors. Although there are only a few widely shared structural motifs in conotoxins (the majority of the >25,000 peptides in these venoms probably belong to only half a dozen gene superfamilies), the sequences of peptides are remarkably divergent from one Conus species to another. We suggest that cone snails undergoing speciation have, in effect, a mutator phenotype which acts specifically on the gene segment encoding the mature toxin region. In their 50 million years of evolution, cone snails anticipated many features of the modern drug industry: disposable hypodermic needles, combination drug therapy, and combinatorial strategies for drug discovery. Recent results indicate that the Conus peptide system may provide a novel paradigm for designing ligands that discriminate between closely related members of large families of receptors and ion channels. Many Conus peptides may be “Janus-ligands,” with two distinct recognition faces oriented in different directions, a design which should make far greater target specificity possible.

Evaluation of sterilization dose for disposable hypodermic needles manufactured under ultra-clean condition

Relationship between characteristics of bioburden and sterilization dose setting for disposable hypodermic needles, produced on same manufacturing lines, is presented in this study. The number of bioburden for 512 needles (18 lots) was changed from 0 to 6 and its distribution was extremely shifted to 0. Most of isolates (401 strains) were Gram positive cocci (60.3%) and spore forming bacteria (31.7%). The distribution of gamma radiation resistances (D 10) showed two peaks at about 1.1 kGy and 0.4 kGy. The sterilization doses estimated by Japan log formula method on the basis of above data became higher than those by AAMI B2 (UDS) and B3 methods.

A biocompatible needle-type glucose sensor based on platinum-electroplated carbon electrode.

A biocompatible needle-type glucose sensor with a 3-electrode configuration was constructed. A platinum-electroplated carbon stick was used as the working electrode, Ag/AgCl as the reference electrode, and a disposable hypodermic needle made of stainless steel as the counter electrode. A Nafion membrane, an immobilized glucose oxidase (GOD) membrane, and a biocompatible membrane with diffusion-limiting effect were coated successively onto the working electrode. The sensor showed a rapid response (< 120 s in batch operation), good reproducibility (RE < 3%), good stability (over 36 h in control serum), a wide dynamic range (5-600 mg/dL glucose), and superior biocompatibility. It was used to determine glucose in serum. The data obtained from the sensor showed good agreement with that from a clinical autoanalyzer (R > 0.95).

Amperometric needle-type glucose sensor based on a modified platinum electrode with diminished response to interfering materials

A needle-type glucose sensor that can be used to determine glucose in serum and whole blood samples was developed. Platinum wire was used as the working electrode and a disposable hypodermic stainless-steel needle electroplated with platinum was used as the counter and reference electrode. A method involving both photocross-linking of PVA-SbQ and cross-linking with glutaraldehyde was used to immobilize the enzyme [PVA-SbQ is a poly(vinyl alcohol) bearing stilbazolium groups]. Nafion and cellulose triacetate membranes were used to prevent inaccuracy from interfering materials and to increase the dynamic range of the sensor, respectively. The response, reproducibility and long-term stability of the sensor and the effects of temperature, pH and metal ions on the response were investigated. Owing to the effective method for enzyme immobilization, the large surface area of the counter electrode and the relative inactivity of the counter electrode to chemical reactions, the sensor showed good response, stability and reproducibility. The sensor did not respond to ascorbate and urate at the concentrations normally found in blood. Data obtained from the sensor for glucose in serum and whole blood samples showed a good correlation ( r > 0.95) with a clinical laboratory automated analyser.

An Improved Approach to Aqueous Paracentesis

ABSTRACT We describe a quick and effective technique for performing safe anterior chamber paracenteses. The technique consists simply of inserting a small gauge disposable hypodermic needle without an attached syringe into the anterior chamber. The intraocular pressure and capillary action of the needle readily cause the rapid drainage of aqueous humor. This technique eliminates the cumbersome manipulations and potential complications associated with using an attached syringe for aspiration.

An improved approach to aqueous paracentesis.

We describe a quick and effective technique for performing safe anterior chamber paracenteses. The technique consists simply of inserting a small gauge disposable hypodermic needle without an attached syringe into the anterior chamber. The intraocular pressure and capillary action of the needle readily cause the rapid drainage of aqueous humor. This technique eliminates the cumbersome manipulations and potential complications associated with using an attached syringe for aspiration.

Cleaning an in situ intraocular lens using a disposable hypodermic needle.

For surgeons who do not have a Nd:YAG laser, we describe the use of a 25-gauge disposable hypodermic needle for removing undesirable tissue from an intraocular lens surface to obtain a clear view of the vitreous and retina in the complicated pseudophakic eye.

Technic for research on pain sensitivity. Practical note

A disposable hypodermic needle introduced into the end of its cover at right angles represents a useful tool for the determination of sensitivity to pain. This tool is more comfortable to use for the examiner and permits more adequate measurement of the muscular force used for the different stimuli when compared with pins, needles and sharp tools specially manufactured for the evaluation of superficial cutaneous sensation to pain.

A simple, inexpensive, liquid-tight swivel connection for use in chronic infusion systems

This note describes the fabrication of a simple, inexpensive, liquid-tight swivel joint for twist-free coupling of small, freely moving animals to infusion systems. The device uses a disposable hypodermic needle and syringe as the main components, and fabrication requires only readily available hand tools and minimal mechanical expertise.

A Simple, Inexpensive Apparatus for Simultaneous Collection of CO2 Evolved from Numerous Soils

AbstractAn apparatus was constructed from polyvinylchloride pipe and 30‐gauge disposable hypodermic needles for measurement of microbial activity in soil. The apparatus was compact, easy to construct, and adaptable to any number of samples. It has been used in our laboratory for simultaneous collection of CO2 from 250 soil samples.

A teaching device for simulating the bone marrow aspiration procedure.

A simple, inexpensive device for in vitro instruction in marrow aspiration has been created. It consists of a small plastic container having artificial bone marrow, i.e. , a mixture of a Congo red solution and homogenized food particles. In addition, a disposable hypodermic needle has been modified to resemble the size and contour of a commercially available marrow needle. Puncturing the lid of the container simulates the resistance encountered in vivo in penetrating the bony cortex to enter the medullary cavity. Aspiration and subsequent preparation, staining and appearance of smears of the homogenate mimic the usual clinical procedures. It is hoped that this device, by familiarizing a novice with the methodology prior to its clinical employment, will result in greater expertise by the operator and perhaps minimize hazard to the patient.

A simple intracranial cannula for the rat

A simple cannula is described for introducing chemicals into the brain of the rat. The cannula, which is easily constructed from a disposable hypodermic needle, is small, light weight and durable.