The “heat_it” sting healer from KIT spin-off Kamedi GmbH uses concentrated heat to break down insect toxins with the help of a smartphone.

Whether mosquito, wasp or gadfly: summertime = mosquito season. There is hardly anything that can be done about this. But something can be done about the itching and swelling of the bites. The four founders of Kamedi GmbH, who met during their studies of mechanical engineering at KIT and in the USA, make sure of that.

With their sting healer “heat_it”, the team at the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) has developed a handy mobile device that can be connected to almost any smartphone and heals stings in seconds. However, it not only puts an end to annoying stings, but also provides relief from herpes outbreaks. The mechanism of action behind it: Hyperthermia. The affected area of skin is heated up for a few seconds, the animal venom is decomposed, histamine release is reduced and, as a result, the symptoms of animal stings and herpes are alleviated. Since a different temperature (50 to 60 degrees Celsius) and treatment duration (3 to 15 seconds) are required for healing depending on the animal, skin area and infection, the body area, e.g. foot or face, and type of sting can be set via an app. In practice, it then looks like this: First, the heat_it is plugged into the smartphone’s charging port as an add-on. The smartphone is used for power supply and control. The smartphone recognizes the heat_it and the app opens. The cause and skin thickness of the affected area are selected in the main menu. The stitch healer is pressed against the affected skin area and visual, acoustic and haptic (vibration) instructions are given.