Anicet Mbida 8:30 a.m., September 2, 2021

Every day, Anicet Mbida makes us discover an innovation that could well change the way we consume.

This Wednesday, he is interested in the research of members of the University of Delft in the Netherlands on a needle inspired by the sting of the "parasitoid wasp".

Your innovation will give chills to those who are afraid of bites.

You are announcing a new type of needle, even more effective, because it is inspired by wasps.

I reassure you, this is not the kind of wasp that has spoiled our lives all summer.

This is a needle inspired by the sting of the "parasitoid wasp".

Parasitoid because it lays its eggs discreetly inside other insects.

In addition, she manages to keep them alive so that her babies can develop there (a bit like the creature from the movie Alien).

This stinger is extremely sophisticated since the wasp is able to plant it in a fruit, to guide it inside (to avoid the stone or the seeds) before injecting its eggs into the maggot that it spotted at the inside.  

It is this mechanism that researchers at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands succeeded in reproducing in an ultra-fine surgical needle.

It could change everything since it is the first needle capable of penetrating tissue on its own (there is no need to push it, so it hurts less).

Above all, it is extremely flexible, we can orient it, guide it and therefore avoid touching sensitive organs. 

We already know in which procedures we could use it?

Yes, for example to remove blood clots. It would follow the shape of the vein. It is also believed to remove tumors or deliver drugs with ultimate precision. In fact, it could become essential as soon as it is necessary to bypass very fragile structures in the brain or in the spinal cord since the needle can be guided very precisely inside. This will allow less invasive surgeries. 

So if tomorrow you have an operation and only a very small hole is made for you to access places, hitherto inaccessible, without opening yourself in two, you will have to thank the parasitoid wasps. This is called biomimicry. A technique that I love: taking inspiration from nature to find solutions to our problems. Maybe it will make us look at wasps differently.