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Vaccine Patch

Lab Report
Lucy Ostrowski

Gabriella Vasquez

Sebastian Orellana

October 23, 2020

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Abstract
Our experiments worked to show us the best option in dissolvability and painlessness. We set
up tests to see the dissolvability rate of different sized glucose needles and the damage caused
by insertion of different shaped needles. We ran these experiments with larger scaled needle
shapes in mock body heat and skin. This revealed that a smaller surface area of glucose (or
hypothetically hyaluronic acid) will dissolve the quickest and in minutes; such as our smallest
option of ½ cm in diameter dissolving completely in 7 minutes and 30 seconds. We also saw
that a thin cone shaped needle will cause the least amount of damage therefore meaning the
least amount of pain; such as causing 8 mm of damage on our scale which is significantly less
than the other two shapes causing 14mm-20mm of damage. We had some setbacks with
glucose cooling faster than anticipated making it hard to mold​ as well as the 3D printers ability
to handle such small shapes, but further testing can help erase these errors.

Table Of Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Citations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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Introduction
Background​:
Our goal for this project was to create a way to give vaccines to a greater population of people.
We decided on a patch with microneedles. While brainstorming our product, we defined two
components to be the key factors in our design: dissolvability and painlessness. When dealing
with dissolvable microneedles, we need to ensure that they will safely and quickly dissolve in
the skin as well as being painless. Our tests will help us see what shape needles will be the
least painful, and what size hyaluronic coating will dissolve the fastest while still remaining
stable.
Equations​:
Hyaluronic Acid:​C​33​H​54​N​2​O​23
When Hyaluronic Acid dissolves: ​C​33​H​54​N​2​O​23 (s) ​ ​→​ ​ ​C​33​H​54​N​2​O​23 (aq)
When Sugar dissolves: ​C​6​H​12​O​6 (s) ​→​ ​C​6​H​12​O​6 (aq)
Purpose​:
In order to successfully create our project, we need to answer the following questions:
Discovery Questions​:
What shape of microneedle would cause the least amount of pain to the patient receiving the
vaccination?
We hypothesize that a thinner, longer needle will cause the least amount of pain.
Within the actual microneedle, what size layer of hyaluronic acid would allow the vaccine to be
released the fastest?
We hypothesize that the thinnest layer of hyaluronic acid will dissolve the fastest.

Methods

Experiment One
Overview: This experiment will model how the microneedles need to dissolve in the skin, and
will give us an outline for the size of the outer layer of the needle. The microneedle will be made
of hyaluronic acid, but since we couldn’t get ahold of that, we used sugar, which is also water
soluble and dissolves in the same manner as hyaluronic acid. The microneedles need to
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dissolve because they contain the vaccine within them, and when the outer layer dissolves, the
vaccine is released into the skin.
Question: How will the microneedles be able to quickly dissolve into the skin, releasing the
vaccine?
Hypothesis: If the microneedle has a thinner outer layer, the vaccine will be released faster.
Equipment:
- Sugar (3 cups)
- White vinegar
- Corn syrup
- Pot (medium)
- Pan
- Baking sheet
- Stove top
- Water (1 cup)
Procedure:
1. Turn on stove to medium heat and place a pot on top
2. Fill the pot with 1 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of white vinegar and 3 cups of sugar
3. Stir mixture until all the sugar is dissolved
4. Keep on heat until the mixture reaches between 250 and 266 degrees C

5. Pour sugar mixture on pan lined with a baking sheet and create a thin strip
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6. Let cool until touchable, but still malleable
7. Pull sugar away from sides into center, and continue pulling the sugar, like clay

8. Roll into cylinder shape to mock the needles basic shape (not to scale)
a. Test four different thicknesses
i. ½ inch
ii. 1 cm
iii. ¾ cm
iv. ½ cm
9. Let cool and solidify completely

10. Dip each cylinder into separate cups with ½ cup of 99 degree F water (mocks body heat)
and let dissolve

11. Time how long it takes each thickness to completely dissolve and record in table

Experiment Two
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Overview: This experiment will allow us to understand which shape of microneedle will cause
the least amount of pain/breakage to the skin. We will model this by 3D printing the different
possible needle shapes and pressing them into a fake skin substance (foam). We will measure
the amount of pain that each needle created by observing the breakage caused to the foam.
Question: What needle shape will create the least amount of pain for the patient?
Hypothesis: If a skinnier needle is used, there will be less pain because the skin will have less
breakage.
Equipment:
- 3D printer
- 3D modeling software
- 3D printing PLA
- Styrofoam (6x6x3 inch square)
- Fabric
Procedure:
1. Design 3 different to-scale needle shapes on modeling software
a. Cone shaped ​24 mm length, 7 mm diameter
b. Pencil shaped (shorter and wider) ​23 mm length, 9 mm diameter
c. Pencil shaped (long and thin) ​27 mm length, 5 mm diameter
*These measurements were the smallest the printer could handle

2. Save design and convert into printing file

3. 3D print all three needles

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4. Set up “fake skin” by layering fabric over foam

5. Poke all three needles fully into “skin”, using equal pace and pressures

6. Remove all three needles

7. Remove fabric
8. Record damage to “skin’ by taking pictures of holes left and comparing size of the hole
and breakage/tearing to the fabric in a table (The most damage signifies the most pain)

Results
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Experiment One

Thickness of 1.27 cm (½ inch) 1 cm ¾ cm ½ cm

sugar “needle”

Time to dissolve 17 min 48 sec 11 min 59 sec 10 min 57 sec 7 min 30 sec
in 99℉ water

Experiment Two

Pencil shaped (short Cone shaped Pencil shaped (long

and wide) and skinny)

Trial 1 20 mm 9 mm 16 mm

Trial 2 19 mm 8 mm 14 mm

Trial 3 18 mm 9 mm 14 mm

Average 19 mm 8.66 mm 14.66 mm

*Measurement in mm of diameter in damage to styrofoam

Discussion

Using the first needle with a half inch or 1.27 centimeter length, it took 17 minutes and 48
seconds or 1221 seconds for the sugar needle to fully dissolve. In the second trial, it dissolved
much quicker, taking one second less than twelve minutes to dissolve a one centimeter long
sugar needle. When the needle was ¾ long it had a dissolving time of 10 minutes and 57
seconds, In the last trial, when the needle was half a centimeter, it took 7 minutes and 30
seconds to dissolve. Deeper needles tend to dissolve slower, which probably means that the
dissolving happens to outer sections first, and larger outer sections take longer to dissolve.
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Out of the three types of needles, the short and wide pencil shape created the most damage by
far; this was created by the thickness of the needle leaving large holes in the “skin”. The long
and skinny pencil shaped needle created the middle most damage in the “skin” due to the small
point and large cylinder that followed. The cone shaped needle created the least amount of
damage and left relatively small holes. In the fabric, all of the holes were relatively the same
size, but the styrofoam took the most damage. Besides recorded damage, there are two other
factors to consider that these tests showed. Due to the small size of the tip in the cone shaped
needle, two trials resulted in the tip breaking off while pushed into the set up. Since our
microneedles are designed to dissolve in the skin, this shouldn’t cause any problem. In the two
other types, ​the holes bled into each other and created even more damage. This was not
supposed to happen since the trials were not supposed to affect one another​. In use, this would
create a larger wound and would be much more painful than the cone shape. In terms of least
damage and most painless, the cone shape with a miniscule tip will be our best solution.

Conclusion
After conducting these experiments, we found that skinnier, cone shaped needles will cause the
least amount of pain because they cause the least amount of breakage to the skin, and having a
thinner layer of hyaluronic acid encapsulating the vaccine will cause the vaccine to be released
faster. During experimentation, we came across a few errors. First, the filament broke off and
got stuck in the 3D printer, which caused a timing setback in order for that to be fixed. Also, the
sugar cooled/hardened faster than it took to shape the needles, so we were unable to get the
food coloring inside of the needle shapes. ​In order to fix this, using proper safety gloves would
make us able to mold the glucose while it is still hot​. The final error was that the 3D printer could
only handle relatively large sizes, so the experiment had to focus on shape rather than to-scale
size. ​Using a more precise printer would help solve this problem. ​Further experimentation could
be done using hyaluronic acid instead of glucose, and getting things actually to-scale with the
3D printer.

Citations
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Sugar Melting: Worldwide Culinary Apprentice. ​How to Cook and Make Pulled Sugar - Step By
Step Pulled Sugar Ribbons & Bows - Pulled Sugar.​ ​YouTube​, 4 Aug. 2013,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3NOJsnGK7c.
Temperature: Nall, Rachel. “Body Temperature: Normal Ranges in Adults and Children.”
Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 18 Jan. 2018,
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323819.
Hyaluronic Acid: “Hyaluronic Acid.” ​National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem
Compound Database​, U.S. National Library of Medicine,
pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Hyaluronic-Acid.
“Solubility and Complex-Ion Equilibria.” ​Solubility​,
chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch18/soluble.php.