Spyke
Kairosreply
lemmy.today

That's not the main reason why we don't reuse needles.

169

Insulin needles are used in this way, because they're usually permanently attached to their syringe. Rather than using a drawing needle then an injection needle.

4
lemmy.world

Oh does insulin have a thick rubber stopper? I'm a lemmy stereotype and so my only experience with injections is estrogen

7

I'm a lemmy stereotype and so my only experience with injections is estrogen

This is peak Lemmy right there lmao

2
burntbaconreply
discuss.tchncs.de

Aye, and besides drug users on the streets, that's who the top picture was actually for. I can't recall how many of those signs I've seen when I was picking up needles with my insulin. I also know my uncle reused his up to 10 times or so. Worst I've ever gone was like 5-6. It's actually quite difficult to get needles when you're not at home and forget some (and they're annoyingly easy to forget).

3

Yes, I get that. So what I was saying, in a continuation of your comment on insulin needles being used that way, was that the top picture here, showing what needles looked like after multiple times of use, was most often displayed near pharmacies, where insulin and needles were dispensed to diabetics. I saw them there more than I ever saw them in anti-drug areas/campaigns. I was further adding in the perspective that there was a good reason for doing that, as diabetics (and probably other users of injected drugs) were most definitely reusing needles, as evidenced by the stories from my uncle and my own experience.

4
DaGeek247reply
fedia.io

It's a little misleading in that the last photo is zoomed in a lot more than the previous ones. This one has that without the extra zoom in.

135
jaybonereply
lemmy.zip

Could they be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol or an autoclave?

3
CXORAreply
aussie.zone

It's less about the dirt than the tip deforming.

When the needle is less pointy, it'll hurt more.

50

Not only that but look how it forms a freaking fishing hook on the end like a barb. Yikes!!!

21
reddit_suxreply
lemmy.world

Autoclave will deform the needle even more. The edge of the tip is made from softer steel so that it is sharper while at the same time more deformable.

9

Assumably also for manufacturing and safety reasons. You don't want the tip of a needle to shatter inside you, softer steel won't do that. And it's a little bit easier to manufacture with softer steel as well.

17
sh.itjust.works

Needles were autoclaved and re-used once upon a time, so it should be possible. But disposable needles are probably made of softer material than reusable ones.

8

Those were made up harder steel which can't be sharpened to the degree softer steel can be. Harder steel shatters if sharpened since harder it is brittle it becomes.

So reusable needle are blunt, so injections are painful. And as mentioned by @[email protected] they used to shatter inside the body after a few cycles of autoclaving.

11

Comparing the pictures it looks like the exact same set of photos except like you said, more zoomed in.

2
ledsreply
feddit.dk

So when nurse misses a vein and want to try again you should ask them to uae a new needle?

2
lemmy.ca

how do we know this isn't just a closeup of a tardigrade butthole?

109
arsCynicreply
beehaw.org

Also doesn't deserve Twitter, now known as a letter owned by a Gestapo enthusiast.

27
ChicoSuavereply
lemmy.world

I clicked because of that hole but came here because of the tardigrade upskirt pics.

3
lemmy.today

Hard to believe. To prepare a sample for an electron microscope you need to freeze it to nitrogen temperatures or below. You can fix it using glutaraldehyde, but again, you need to cut it accurately immediately after the penetration. My bet is that either stabbed dead skin or some sort of graphics.

45
MBechreply
feddit.dk

Also seems wildly overkill to use an electron microscope for this.

20
beehaw.org

Yes! When I did electron microscopy, we had to cover the fix the samples and cover them with a very thin gold layer beforehand.

15

In rationalist hell there is a special teapot for people who color SEM images

36
feddit.org

Thanks, I hate it. Not because of the hole, but because of how unhealthy the skin looks in this picture.

32
cRazi_manreply
europe.pub

Were you expecting it to be smooth like plastic? The top layer is basically a bunch of dead skin cells that keep flaking away from the top layer and building up again from the lower layers.

50
kautaureply
lemmy.world

Not if you moisturize

^/s,^ ^of^ ^course,^ ^though^ ^I’m^ ^sure^ ^you^ ^could^ ^put^ ^this^ ^photo^ ^on^ ^Instagram^ ^and^ ^be^ ^like^ ^“this^ ^is^ ^your^ ^skin^ ^without^ ^my^ ^brand^ ^of^ ^healing^ ^lotion^ ^made^ ^of^ ^baby^ ^foreskin”^ ^and^ ^make^ ^plenty^ ^of^ ^sales^

8

I am aware, but it still looks very unsettling. The fake colour actually makes it worse I think, because I have seen plenty similar pictures in gray scale

3

Scanning electron microscopes image in a vacuum. Nothing looks 100% like it does at sea level when you suck all the air out.

11
lemmy.sdf.org

Most SEMs use a vacuum chamber to get their photos. Also, it's not uncommon to sputter a conductive coating onto the surface you're scanning.

How the hell did they get this photo?

22
Pulptasticreply
midwest.social

Environmental SEMs do not require vacuum and can be used for nonconductive samples. The beam ionizes the air which prevents the sample from charging. Magnification is limited but it is more than enough for this.

You can tell it is SEM and not optical by the depth of field. An optical image at this magnification would have much less DoF so the peaks/valleys would be blurry.

20

That's very cool. I had not heard of ESEMs till you commented. I'll have to look into them more.

3

Put a needle in someone, freeze them solid with liquid nitrogen, then take a picture. Throw body out with rest of specimens.

Easy peasy.

20

It likely wasn't done on an electron microscope, or at least there is no reason to. There is no scale bar, but quick look online tells me a very fine needle is about 0.016in. 500x magnification optical lens would give you more than enough resolution for a photo like that.

13

I'm more intrigued by the fact there's no blood, they must've taken this milliseconds after the needle was removed? Or it's a dead body.

5

They could have remained a portion of the skin. But as another commenter notes, this is too large to need an electron microscope.

Edit: then another comment says otherwise, and cites the collection it is from.

1
gregtech.eu

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

19

Just about everything can seem big when you have an electron microscope

7

Wonder what it looks like after I scratch it for 50 minutes straight because my pain receptors are bad and I won't stop till I see blood.

6
fedia.io

Skin kinda looks like dried up paint (I don't paint). Is this dryer than normal, or?

5

Apparently electron microscopes work in a vacuum. So this is a needle hole in skin, in a vacuum.

4