Singapore: Vaccination will no longer be a painful process as researchers from Japan's Osaka University have developed a new technique that can deliver vaccines without needles. The new method will encourage vaccination thus aiding in reducing global disease burden.

Through this technology, vaccines are delivered simply by laying a tiny patch onto a person's finger, before it dissolves into their skin. "We were excited to see that our new microneedle patch is just as effective as the needle-delivered flu vaccines, and in some cases even more effective," said Professor Nakagawa, one of the authors of the Osaka University study.

The results of the trials are reported in a paper, 'Clinical study and stability assessment of a novel transcutaneous influenza vaccination using a dissolving microneedle patch', published this month in Biomaterials.

The authors further explained that the new delivery mechanism uses a dissolvable material, meaning that when it is placed onto the skin it will dissolve straight away, not leaving any fragments behind, thus being very safe to administer.