comfortably numb is a new , single-use device that eases the pain of an injection by producing a rapid chemical reaction to cool the patient 's skin .
three first year students , -lrb- from l-r -rrb- mechanical engineer mike hua , bioengineer andy zhang and computer scientist greg allison , bioengineer andy zhang and mechanical engineer mike hua , currently has a functioning prototype .
but for those terrified of needles , a team of scientists at rice university in houston , may have the answer .