Residents Create Disposable Medical Needles
“There has to be a better way,” Steve M. says he thought after watching a nurse accidentally poke herself with a needle after giving him a tetanus shot. At the time, 1978, he was in a hospital following a traffic accident.
In the ensuing years, that compelling thought of designing a safer disposable needle really never left his mind, the Hungarian immigrant reveals. His busy job delivering vehicles around the country for a pest control company left him few occasions to pursue developing his invention.
However, he has plenty of time on his hands now, due to a tragic incident in his life five years ago that has left him partially paralyzed and unable to work.
Surgery on a brain aneurysm resulted in a stroke while he was on the operating table. Although he has permanent physical problems, his mind is still sharp enough to grapple with ideas.
His wife Yvonne, also disabled, looks after him full time and supports him in his dream. A certified nursing assistant (CNA) and a former home health care worker, Yvonne is conversant with needles, and she and her husband have plunged ahead with getting their invention patented and marketed.
With the help of an investor, they approached a company called Invention Technologies Inc. in Coral Gables, Fla., which does all the hard work for would-be investors. The manufacturer will build a prototype from Steve’s sketches, Yvonne says.
“This valuable new product prevents medical professionals from inadvertently stabbing themselves with needles,” a Invention Technologies press release states.
According to IT’s guidelines, no specific details about the new needle can be released. Steve says he has spent about 1,000 hours on the idea for the “Safe & Disposable” needle.
If the product sells, 10 percent goes to IT, the investor gets paid, and the couple “get the rest,” he says.
“It is nothing like any of the others. It is totally unique,” Steve says of his invention.