A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a mobile vaccine printer that, when scaled, could produce hundreds of vaccine doses a day.
This technology would solve many of the challenges of increasing global access to vaccinations: mainly the need for infrastructure that can maintain the doses at under-zero temperatures, as well as syringes, needles, and trained healthcare professionals to administer them.
In contrast, the machine built by the MIT team can print patches with hundreds of microneedles containing vaccines. The patch can be attached to the skin, allowing the vaccine to dissolve without the need for a traditional injection. Once printed, the vaccine patches can be stored for months at room temperature.
This kind of printer, which can fit on a tabletop, could be deployed anywhere vaccines are needed, such as remote villages, refugee camps, or military bases to enable rapid vaccination of large numbers of people...