In a study published in Nature Communications, a British scientific journal, in January, Matsuhiko Nishizawa, professor at Tohoku University, and his research team developed a “biobattery-powered microneedle patch” that allows a vaccine to be released. absorbed faster than with currently commercially available patches.

“In the future, we want people to administer the new coronavirus vaccines and other types of vaccines themselves,” Nishizawa said. “I’m doing my best to get this technology used for COVID-19 vaccinations.”

Japanese researchers have developed a “biobattery-powered microneedle patch” that allows vaccines to be absorbed faster than with currently commercially available patches.

Nishizawa’s team, however, improved these aspects by using low-voltage electricity, allowing a set of porous microneedles on the patch to deliver more drug into the skin, and faster.

Electricity is powered by a biofuel battery, a technology developed by the same research group that generates electricity on the skin’s surface using enzymes.

While it may take years to gain government approval for the technology’s application to vaccines, Nishizawa hopes it will be used for a COVID-19 vaccine in the future.

According to Japan Times