Scientists at Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including Carbon Co-Founder Joe De Simone as lead study author, have created a 3D printed vaccine patch that provides greater protection than a typical vaccine shot. While microneedle patches have been studied for decades, the work by Carolina and Stanford overcomes some past challenges: through 3D printing, the 3D printed patches can be easily customized to develop various patches for flu, measles, hepatitis or COVID-19 vaccination.

The resulting immune response from the vaccine patch was 10 times greater than a vaccine delivered into an arm muscle with a needle jab, according to a study conducted in animals and published by the team of scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The breakthrough is in the 3D printed microneedles lined up on a polymer patch and barely long enough to reach the skin to deliver vaccine.

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