For most people, the worst thing about getting a vaccination is the big, scary hypodermic needle. So researchers have invented a new vaccine-delivery system that replaces the large single needle with 100 tiny dissolvable ones embedded in a Band-Aid–like patch. The new patch can immunize mice against influenza just as effectively as conventional needle vaccination, its developers report online July 18 in Nature Medicine.
The new patch is coated with 100 microneedles that are shorter than a nickel’s thickness. Lead study author Sean Sullivan, who conducted the research while at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, likens the patch to a Band-Aid with a bunch of tiny needles sticking out on the sticky side.
Once the microneedles pierce the skin, they dissolve into the surrounding bodily fluid, releasing the vaccine in the process. The whole thing takes anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes, Sullivan says.