DEVICES FOR TRANSCUTANEOUS DELIVERY OF VACCINES AND TRANSDERMAL DELIVERY OF DRUGS AND USES THEREOF

摘要

The invention provides devices for the disruption of one or more layers of skin and methods of their use to administer therapeutic agents, e.g., antigens or drugs. The devices are designed to disrupt a defined area of skin. The defined area can approximate the area that a patch or other suitable vehicle for therapeutic agent, e.g., drug or vaccine, delivery is designed to contact. Exemplary devices employ a mask to define the area to be disrupted. Other devices disrupt a defined area by rotating in place. For devices that employ a mask that is secured to the skin, the invention provides methods of disrupting the stratum corneum by first securing the mask to the skin and then disrupting the skin. For rotating devices, the disrupting member is simply placed against the skin and actuated to effect disruption.