SAGIV animation. Photo: Youtube.

Fear needles? Well fear no more–Hebrew University students and Hadassah Medical Center clinicians have come up with a novel solution.

They “created a semi-automatic handheld device for rapid and safe IV insertion. Called SAGIV, the device uses infrared sights and electrical sensors to identify veins, insert the needle into the correct location, and withdraw it in a single, rapid robotic movement,” writes the website Nocamels.com, after interviewing Dr. Yotam Almagor, the group’s clinical expert.

“Inserting an IV is a demanding procedure, and many times children need to be pricked five, six or more than 10 times for successful insertion,” Dr. Almagor was quoted as saying. “This leads to a lot of pain and frustration.”

The group’s prototype has already been tested successfully on children at the pediatric ward of Hadassah Medical Center.

“We had a lot of excited parents asking that we use the device,”  Dr. Almagor saod. “Children who used to be pricked numerous times in every visit can now be connected in a single attempt.”

Watch a video of how it works below: