At University of California Berkeley researchers have developed an innovative new way of delivering vaccines that may one day be an option over scary, and slightly painful, needle injections. The MucoJet device is a pill that, when pushed against the cheek, releases its cargo in the form of a microjet. The pressure generated is enough to push large molecules through the mucosal layer and into tissue that’s usually highly concentrated with immune cells.
The microjet is supposedly not painful and there’s not much to using the device. Even children would be able to self-administer a vaccine without the now all-too-common crying and screaming.
The device is powered by a dry mix of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate, which combine with water held in a separate reservoir when the tablet is bitten on. The chemical reaction is directed at a reservoir containing a vaccine, pushing it out of the pill and into the cheek. The researchers compare the pressure generated by the tablet similar to a waterpick.
The investigators tested this technology in rabbits, showing that it does indeed work as hoped, but quite a bit of further research will be necessary before this technology is actually available for people to use.
Here’s video about the research with head of the Berkeley team:
Study in Science Translational Medicine: An oral microjet vaccination system elicits antibody production in rabbits…
Via: UC Berkeley…