Loathed by hikers but admired by scientists—the biting midge’s unique bite might revolutionise the dreaded medical injection.
The midge’s mouthparts are made up of an outer tube that houses two jagged, saw-like mandibles either side of a central needle. As the insect bites, it first advances the outer tube, then the mandibles and finally the needle.
This sequence is repeated hundreds of times until the whole structure is beneath the skin. By distributing the force in this way, the force needed to penetrate is greatly reduced. At the same time, the whole mouth vibrates at 30-40Hz in time with each advance.
This gentle buzzing does two remarkable things. First, it further reduces the force needed to penetrate the skin; second, it activates skin sensors (which are different from pain sensors). Similar to TENS machines, it tricks the spinal cord into processing the vibration rather than the pain.
It’s hoped that the design of the midge’s mouthparts may aid research into improved, painless needle design
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