A dissolving and needle-free nano-patch that can be mailed out to households during a plague has been developed by Australian researchers.
According to Australian Institute for Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, the nano-patch is smaller than a postage stamp and eliminates chance of needle-stick injuries.
The patch has 20,000 projections per cm². It uses micro-projections made from dried vaccine bonded with an excipient, such as carboxymethylcellulose.
Professor Mark Kendall of the Australian Institute for Biotechnology and Nanotechnology said that most vaccines are currently delivered by needle or syringe into muscle, which has few immune cells.
"In contrast, the skin is abundant in immune cells, offering great potential for vaccines if we can successfully exploit it with practical delivery devices," Kendall said.
When the patch is applied to the skin, the projections immediately become wet and dissolve within minutes. They push through the outer skin layer and deliver the bio-molecules.
The nano-patch has been tested on mice and the next step is to establish human clinical trials, according to abc.net.au.
