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Creative Biolabs offers a wide range of high-precision processing technologies, specializing in microneedle processing services. Our expertise can assist you in developing effective solutions tailored to your experimental needs.

Introduction of Microneedles

Microneedle technology has garnered significant attention due to its potential for enabling minimally invasive interventions in personal biochemistry, including drug delivery, interstitial fluid sampling, and diagnostics. Microneedles only penetrate a small area of skin at a limited depth, reducing pain and tissue damage. Microneedles (MNs), which range in length from 10 to 1000 microns, have shown effectiveness in penetrating the stratum corneum, allowing access to interstitial fluid for sampling or in situdetection. Additionally, the microchannels created by the microneedles can facilitate the transdermal delivery of a variety of drugs. Compared to traditional blood sampling and transdermal drug injection methods, microneedles offer several advantages, such as being painless, minimally invasive, easy to use, and safer.

Fig. 1 Microneedle array and Hypodermic needle.⁵

Silicon Microneedles

Microneedle structures can be made from various materials, with silicon being a popular choice due to its availability, low cost, biocompatibility, and the ease with which both simple and complex structures can be fabricated. Silicon offers superior mechanical properties compared to polymers and metals, including high stiffness, high Young's modulus, and indentation hardness. These qualities enable silicon microneedles to penetrate the skin without breaking. Currently, silicon microneedle structures are typically manufactured using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) processes, which include techniques like photolithography, deep reactive ion etching, and wet chemical etching.

Fig. 2 Different shapes of silicon hollow microneedles.^1,4

Creative Biolabs can manufacture silicon microneedles in various sizes and shapes to fulfill your diverse research and production requirements.

PDMS Microneedle Mold

PDMS microneedle-negative molds are primarily used to create soluble microneedles, which are commonly found in cosmetic applications, such as hyaluronic acid microneedles, as well as in drug delivery systems. These microneedles are typically made from biodegradable polymer materials that carry active pharmaceutical ingredients or beauty essences. When the microneedles penetrate the stratum corneum of the skin, the functional ingredients within them are released as the microneedles dissolve. This process allows drug molecules to bypass the stratum corneum barrier, facilitating their penetration and absorption into the subcutaneous tissue and ultimately the body.

Fig. 3 The sustained release process of the polymeric microneedles.^2,4

This drug delivery method avoids the need to remove a needle after insertion, unlike traditional microneedles. The soluble microneedles only require the removal of the patch once the drug has been delivered. This approach is non-invasive, safe, and efficient, leading to better patient compliance.

Fig. 4 The fabrication process of dissolvable microneedles using PDMS mold.

Creative Biolabs provides customized PDMS microneedle negative mold services. Customers only need to provide 3D drawings or parameter requirements.

3D Printed Microneedles

The rise of 3D printing has significantly enhanced the biomedical use of microneedles. Its multifunctional design, ease of customization, and intricate structures not only improve the drug delivery capabilities of microneedles but also open up new possibilities for applications beyond drug delivery, such as bioextraction and biosensing. Compared with other traditional manufacturing methods, 3D printing can manufacture complex geometric structures without any restrictions and can easily modify and optimize the design at any time.

Fig. 5 Images of microneedles fabricated by 3D printing.^3,4

Creative Biolabs provides high-precision and high-level microneedle 3D printing services to meet your needs for manufacturing microneedles of various shapes. Please contact us for more details.

References

1. Li, Yan, et al. "Fabrication of sharp silicon hollow microneedles by deep-reactive ion etching towards minimally invasive diagnostics." Microsystems & nanoengineering 5.1 (2019): 41.
2. Sadeqi, Aydin, et al. "Hard polymeric porous microneedles on stretchable substrate for transdermal drug delivery." Scientific Reports 12.1 (2022): 1853.
3. Olowe, Michael, Santosh Kumar Parupelli, and Salil Desai. "A review of 3D-printing of microneedles." Pharmaceutics 14.12 (2022): 2693.
4. Distributed under Open Access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.
5. Distributed under CC BY 4.0, from Wiki, without modification.

For Research Use Only. Not For Clinical Use.