Smart Needles

Smart Needles: The next generation of auricular acupuncture needles

                                   100 blister packs/1,000 needles per box

Someday all auricular needles will be made this way

Smart International Ltd has spent considerable time seeking to address the limitations in the existing needles being used, to create the best needle available a needle designed for the Ear Acupuncture Protocol.  To replace the existing needles which are simply normal acupuncture needles with a shorter shaft.

Visibility

As you know a lost needle is a major risk for a multitude of reasons.  However, on the rare  occasions when it has happened in the past, the old style plain metal needles were very difficult to find, especially in poor light. The new needles have been developed with the brightest handles possible to make finding them, if one should fall out of the ear or be dropped, much much easier.

Visibility test - try it for yourself

Click on the following series of images to enlarge them and see if you can spot the old style needle and the new needle.

Poor light

series 1   

series 2   

Good light 

 series 1  

Structure

Grip

The old style needles were only 1mm thick to keep their weight down and this meant they can be somewhat fiddly to handle.  These new needles are the same weight as the old style, 0.06g/each, but by using new lighter materials we have been able to make the handle twice as thick, 2mm, which makes it considerably more easier and more comfortable to grip.

Handling

The old style needles had a handle only 20mm long, again to keep down weight, but this on occasion made them quite tricky to place and remove.  The new needle has a handle 5mm longer at 25mm, making it the longest handle on any ear acupuncture needle currently made. This extra 5mm makes a big diference as it gives you a sense of much greater access and needling ability, especially when working around the other needles you've put in.

Designed to be smooth

These needles have been technologically designed to be as smooth as we can make them.

In needle manufacture there are two predominant techniques that are employed to change the tip of the needle and to reduce the pain of needling.  Some needles have microscopic grooves manufactured in the shaft, while others have a silicon coating applied, both techniques reduce the friction involved with needling and therefore the painful sensation sometimes experienced.  A very few of the expensive top-end mainstream acupuncture needles have both and there has never been an auricular acupuncture needle with both ......until now.

Our needles are low pain engineered and have a softer smoother silicon coating.

Low Pain Engineering

Is a process by which the surface area of the point of the needle is reduced so that it makes less surface contact when it meets the skin. Similar in principle to the runners on a sledge which allow it to glide more easily than if they were the whole width of the sledge. The result is that less surface contact means less pain.

Silicon Coating

The coating on the needles has the same as the lubricant in your car. It reduces friction, and on a needle reduced friction means less needling sensation. For the technically minded the silicon coating is Dow Corning MDX4-4159 50% Medical Grade Dispersion.

Packaging

• Most efficient package for Ear Acupuncture Protocol.
• 10 needles per pack with dual five-needle access tailored for detox protocols.
• All needles are separately positioned - sure grip of one needle at a time and no fumbling with a bundle of needles.
• Extremely fast needle access for maximum operational efficiency.
• High packing density for minimal waste per needle.
• Conserves storage space and convenient to carry on field assignments.
• Cost effective for clinics.
• 100 packs/1,000 needles per box.