Researchers Develop an mHealth Wearable That Can Deliver Vaccines

Researchers are developing an mHealth wearable that might someday take the sting out of vaccine shots and make them more effective as well.

Teams from Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a 3D-printed vaccine patch that would not only eliminate the need for needles, but work 10 to 50 times better than the current delivery method. It could also be mass produced and distributed more easily, offering more opportunities at effective delivery to underserved regions and communities.

Their work was detailed in a study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“In developing this technology, we hope to set the foundation for even more rapid global development of vaccines, at lower doses, in a pain- and anxiety-free manner,” Joseph M. DeSimone, a professor of translational medicine and chemical engineering at Stanford University, professor emeritus at UNC-Chapel Hill and lead author of the project, said in a press release.

Healthcare has interested for years in the patch as an mHealth delivery method, considering the for function both for its effectiveness and its stylishness. Some patches have been designed to contain sensors to capture physiological data and monitor vital signs, while others are developed to deliver medications, either in one dose or through a series of timed doses.

They’re even working on patches that would either monitor patients and healthcare staff for the first signs of COVID-19 or help treat them if they have the virus.

DeSimone and his colleagues have created a patch that contains microneedles, which distribute the vaccine directly into the skin, which contains the cells that vaccines target, rather than the muscle, which is where the needle usually finds its mark. Studies have shown that this delivery method generates significant T-call and antigen-specific antibody response that can be 50 times more effective than the subcutaneous injection.

And for those with a fear of needles, the patch is more comfortable.

Beyond that, the researchers have focused on a 3D printing process whereby the microneedles can be customized to deliver specific vaccines, addressing such health issues as the flu, hepatitis, measles or COVID-19.

“Our approach allows us to directly 3D print the microneedles which gives us lots of design latitude for making the best microneedles from a performance and cost point-of-view,” Shaomin Tan, a researcher in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the UNC School of Medicine and lead study author, said in the press release.

The design and delivery method also reduces the need to use and dispose of needles and to create vaccination sites with refrigeration unites for the vaccine, and it allows care providers to use less vaccine at far more effective rates. Patches with microneedles that dissolve into the skin could be more easily produced and delivered to far more locations for distribution.

DeSimone, Tan and their colleagues are now setting their sights on patches for RNA vaccines, like the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

“One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned during the pandemic is that innovation in science and technology can make or break a global response,” DeSimone said in the press release. “Thankfully we have biotech and health care workers pushing the envelope for us all.”