Hundreds of people are injured each year when hypodermic needles go too far under their skin during medical treatment. A new device developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology could prevent these accidents using technology borrowed from the oil industry.

The device has a hollow S-shaped needle containing a filament that acts as a guide wire. As a doctor pushes the device against a patient's skin, the filament buckles and locks into place, thanks to the buckling and interactions with the walls of the tube. The needle and filament penetrate through to the target cavity - a blood vessel, for example. In the cavity, there is no more resistance on the filament, so it “unbuckles” and extends into the cavity. This signals that the needle has reached its target and the doctor stops advancing the needle. The needle, which is no longer moving, cannot damage other tissue and can complete its task of delivering drugs or taking samples. The team developing the device believes it could reach clinics in three to five years after being tested and certified.