page_title: Hypodermic needle
section_title: 19th-century development
hierarchical_section_title: Hypodermic needle / History / 19th-century development
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a syringe made entirely from glass, with no parts made from metal, nor any other material. The plunger is made with a ground glass surface, which mates with such precision with the barrel that no liquid can escape.
context_page_description: A hypodermic needle, one of a category of medical tools which enter the skin, called sharps, is a very thin, hollow tube with a sharp tip that contains a small opening at the pointed end. It is commonly used with a syringe, a hand-operated device with a plunger, to inject substances into the body or extract fluids from the body. They are used to take liquid samples from the body, for example taking blood from a vein in venipuncture. Large-bore hypodermic intervention is especially useful in catastrophic blood loss or treating shock.
  A hypodermic needle is used for rapid delivery of liquids, or when the injected substance cannot be ingested, either because it would not be absorbed, or because it would harm the liver. There are many possible routes for an injection, with the arm being a common location.
  The hypodermic needle also serves an important role in research environments where sterile conditions are required. The hypodermic needle significantly reduces contamination during inoculation of a sterile substrate.
context_section_description: The 19th century saw the development of medicines that were effective in small doses, such as opiates and strychnine. This spurred a renewed interest in direct, controlled application of medicine. "Some controversy surrounds the question of priority in hypodermic medication." Francis Rynd is generally credited with the first successful injection in 1844. Alexander Wood’s main contribution was the all-glass syringe in 1851, which allowed the user to estimate dosage based on the levels of liquid observed through the glass. Wood used hypodermic needles and syringes primarily for the application of localized, subcutaneous injection (localized anesthesia) and therefore was not as interested in precise dosages. Simultaneous to Wood's work in Edinburgh, Charles Pravaz of Lyon also experimented with sub-dermal injections in sheep using a syringe of his own design. Pravaz designed a syringe measuring 3 cm (1.18 in) long and 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter; it was made entirely of silver. Charles Hunter, a London surgeon, is credited with the coining of the term "hypodermic" to describe subcutaneous injection in 1858. The name originates from two Greek words: hypo, "under", and derma, "skin". Furthermore, Hunter is credited with acknowledging the systemic effects of injection after noticing that a patient's pain was alleviated regardless of the injection’s proximity to the pained area. Hunter and Wood were involved in a lengthy dispute over not only the origin of the modern hypodermic needle, but also because of their disagreement to the medicine's effect once administered.
caption: Syringe made entirely of glass, similar to the Wood design, except it is etched with volume marks.
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