The market
The syringe with a needle is the best-selling medical device in the world. An estimated 12 billion units are consumed annually, representing a market value of approximately $2.5 billion. It is estimated that 70% of all syringes and needles are used for insulin administration. Consequently, the market is expected to continue growing at a sustained pace in the coming decades, as the number of diabetic patients is projected to increase from 285 million in 2010 to 438 million in 2030. India, with 50.8 million inhabitants, has the largest diabetic population in the world, followed by China with 43.2 million. In addition to the dramatic increase in diabetes, the market will expand due to the ongoing shift towards disposable syringes to eliminate the risk of contamination. The US market currently represents the largest market in the world, with 6 billion units sold annually. The day all Chinese and Indian patients have been diagnosed and treated, these two markets alone will require 38 billion needles per year! The increased use of disposable medical equipment and devices is resulting in the annual production of approximately 3.2 million tons of medical waste. Syringes with needles represent the largest category by unit count, but perhaps the smallest by weight. These used needles pose a major health risk, causing approximately one million injuries each year, and this number continues to rise. This has led to the development of safety systems in which needles retract after use. The cost of disposable needles has fallen to 10 cents each for a standard needle, 25 cents for an ultra-fine needle, and the most expensive can cost up to 40 cents each. This high-volume, globally standardized product has allowed a few companies to take the lead. Becton-Dickinson (USA), Terumo (Japan), and B. Braun Melsungen (Germany) are the largest producers, with an annual production capacity of over 2 billion units. These major players have perfected their core business approach, supply chain management, resulting in ever-lower unit prices.Innovation
The introduction of safety needles was a significant breakthrough a decade ago. The higher cost associated with safety has been absorbed by insurance systems worldwide. However, the biggest challenge for the medical community in general, and medical device manufacturers in particular, is the phenomenon known as "needle phobia." This condition affects more than 10% of the world's population. The fear of needles is so intense that patients avoid medical care. Based on general observations, the number of people who die because they did not seek treatment due to their needle phobia is far greater than the number of people who die from needle-related injuries. One recent innovation to overcome this phobia is the vibrating needle, which reduces pain through tiny piercing movements or the addition of a special coating to the tip.
Masayuki Okano, president of Okano Kogyo Corporation, a small Japanese metalworking company, had always wondered how mosquitoes could insert their proboscis painlessly into our skin, even without causing a reaction when blood suction begins. He and his colleagues at Terumo Corporation (Japan) realized that the proboscis isn't cylindrical—as needles usually are—but rather conical. While scientists and production engineers claimed that the conical shape would certainly slow down the injection and reduce production efficiency, Okano-san proved them wrong on both counts. The thinning of the injection needle, both inside and out, almost forcing the liquid medication to flow out like a vortex, allows for the same rapid and efficient administration as any other needle. And, to everyone's surprise—but not Okano-san's—this needle causes no pain whatsoever. This innovation is based on geometry and replaces the application of local anesthesia before needle insertion. The substitution of chemistry (or metallurgy in the case of coatings) with physics is one of the fundamental principles of the Blue Economy.
With a diameter of just 0.2 mm, this needle is the thinnest on the market. A professor of physics and materials science claimed that such a thin sheet of metal, combined with a 20% reduction in the tip to create the desired conical shape, could not be mass-produced. However, Mr. Okano invented a novel production approach: micro-stamping the sheet metal before rolling it, thus preparing an easy assembly for mass production. Then, Terumo's engineers designed tapering equipment to complete the manufacturing process, bringing the needles to market with a unit price of approximately 25 cents. Although this medical device costs more than the average insulin injection system, the elimination of pain is a tremendous relief for diabetic patients, and anyone else who must undergo one or more regular injections (or even just one).
