MucoJet is a 3D printed capsule which offers an alternative to needle vaccinations and targets the buccal region of your mouth.

The worst part of traveling is probably the injections you need before you go. However, if you have a fear of needles, you’ll be happy to hear that 3D printing could make future injections pain free.

Instead of injecting you in the arm with a needle, doctors could one day provide patients with a self-administer vaccine. UC Berkeley is behind this technology which they are calling MucoJet.

This new vaccination device is an oral delivery system. The pill shaped technology works by releasing a stream of vaccine into your mouth. But, unfortunately, MucoJet is not out on the market yet. It is still just a proof-of-concept study, it‘s probably 5 to 10 years off an official release.

The technology focuses on the so-called buccal region of the mouth. This area is often difficult for oral vaccines to penetrate but it is where many infections enter the body. MucoJect could change this.

So far, the researchers have only done animal tests. However, it was capable of delivering vaccine-sized molecules to immune cells in the mouths of animals. Check out the video to find out the science behind how MucoJet works:

How Does MucoJet Vaccine Technology Work?

By developing oral vaccines, it could be possible to build immunity and offer greater protection from infections. The MucoJet offers technology which could break the buccal region’s thick mucosal layer.

To do this, MucoJet uses a high-pressure stream of liquid. Kiana Aran, developed the technology while a postdoctoral scholar at Berkeley.

“The jet is similar in pressure to a water pick that dentists use,” she explains. “The pressure is very focused, the diameter of the jet is very small, so that’s how it penetrates the mucosal layer.”

This would take away the pain of a needle. MucoJet can even hold 250 milliliters of water. To create the solid compartments, the scientists 3D print a cheap plastic resin which is both water-resistant and biocompatible. Another benefit of the vaccine is that it is self-administered.

Interested in finding out more? You can read more about it in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Source: University of California