Devices for intradermal vaccination

New insights in vaccine development, the need for safe, economic and efficient vaccine administration and the increasing mechanistic knowledge of immune responses induced by targeting the intradermal layers of the skin have all driven the engineering of devices for intradermal vaccination. In this review we highlight different delivery devices that make the epidermal and dermal layers of the skin accessible for vaccine administration. Depending on the device the desired vaccine can be applied either as a liquid formulation or as solid, powdered vaccine particles. The process of intradermal injection employs micron-sized needles that are inserted 1.5 mm perpendicularly into the skin, and which inject approximately 100–200 μl of a liquid vaccine formulation into the dermal skin layers. Tattoo devices, on the other hand, can be used to deliver liquid vaccine formulations into the dermal layer of the skin by the use of oscillating needles. Microneedle arrays are made of vaccine-coated solid microneedles or bio