The Unknown History of Hypodermic Needles

Have you ever wondered what kind of idea paved way for developing hypodermic needle?

It was the ancient Romans and Greeks who developed the fist method of medicinal delivery. They observed snake bites and poisoned weapons. References are also there in Old Testament, such as ‘inunction’ and ‘anointing’ and also in some works of Homer. However, it was not developed as a medical tool till seventeenth century. 

It was Christopher Wren who first experimented with hypodermic needles by injecting a dog in 1656. Animal bladder was used as the syringe and goose quills as the needle to administer opium inside the dog. One of the main aims of this experiment was to see the effect of intravenous mode of administering drugs, while traditionally it was done orally. J S Elshots and J D Major were the first to administer injections in humans. The experiment was ineffective and also proved fatal.

During the 19th century, medicines were given in small doses. Some the medicines were strychnine and opiates. After this experiment many showed interest in directing controlled medicine application. Alexander Wood is credited for first successful injection. He achieved this feat in 1853 and he used an all-glass syringe. It allowed the administrator to estimate the dosage with the help of the transparent glass. Wood used the needle to administer local anesthesia and was not interested in administering precise dosage. Pravaz on the other hand developed a 3cm needle which is 5 mm in diameter. The syringe was entirely made of silver. Dr. Charles Hunter is the first person to coin the term ‘hypodermic’ for describing subcutaneous injection. He was also praised for revealing the effects of injection and the pain of patients growing slowly regardless of the area injected.