The Change Maker with Lea Milovich

On this show, we dive into a topic that people either love or hate: Needles. Needles aren't new to the world—50,000 years ago, they found evidence of bird bone needles. Needles went from bones to metal to plastic over decades. In the 1960s, the US military gave vaccine needle-free injections with high-powered compression. But it wasn't simple. You had to stand still while the compression gun was applied as the technician pulled the trigger.

Now, consider this: imagine all the waste that plastic needles make: the needle, the syringe, the little plastic coffin it lives in, and the latex gloves needed for each injection. Try Googling the cost of a needle's lifecycle, and you won't be able to find it. Medical waste is a global problem. Earth.org reported that the COVID-19 pandemic was a public health crisis and an environmental crisis. An estimated eight million metric tons of plastics enter the ocean annually. According to a WHO report, the medical waste accumulated during the pandemic increased plastic pollution in the oceans tenfold. 

Our guest, Lea Milovich, CEO and co-founder of Flowbeams, knows we can do better and says it's time for a new way to inject micro fluids—needle-free injection using lasers. Lea shares her journey from business innovator to CEO, her never-ending curiosity, and her desire to ensure great technology gets out into the marketplace.

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Tiny Little Victories is a Storyology production.

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