“Inspired by the work of fellow Edinburgh alumnus James Young Simpson around anaesthesia, Wood became fascinated with finding ways to relieve localised pain.
In 1853 his research led him to taking the earlier invention of a hollow needle and adding a plunger. He then developed this idea further into the first all-glass syringe with fine-bone needle that allowed doctors to estimate a dosage based on the amount of liquid observed through the glass, thus allowing for smaller measured doses to be administered.
His first patient was an 80 year-old woman who suffered from a form of neuralgia, which he successfully treated by injecting her area of discomfort with morphia (morphine dissolved in sherry). Wood had invented and used the world’s first hypodermic syringe.”
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