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A safer needle

A safer needle
A safer needle

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) study, some 1.3 million people die every year from infections: hepatitis C or B or HIV, contracted as a result of accidental needle-sticking injuries. A death occurs every 24 seconds throughout the world due to these types of injuries. With this in mind, Celanese Engineered Materials, an American chemical company, developed a new "Injury Stop" safety syringe with a retractable needle intended to avoid injuries after injections, in collaboration with the French companies IBT Systèmes Médicaux Généraux and Société plastique de Savoie ( SPDS). 
The chemicals company offers a copolymer (POM) sold under the Hostaform brand name, which is used in the piston's locking system which enables the needle to be locked inside the body of the syringe. 

After an injection, the safety can be engaged by rotating the piston by a quarter turn and then pulling it upwards. 
The tool is manufactured at costs which are close to that of conventional non-safety syringes: a most important criterion for a solution which is particularly recommended for health workers in emerging countries, particularly in Africa where most deaths as a result from infection occur

More information
www.celanese.com

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