• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2015

This paper addresses the state of arts of microneedles for the transdermal drug delivery applications. Microneedles can be classified based on materials and shapes. For the materials, microneedles could be made of ceramics, metals and polymers. The shape of the microneedles can be classified into solid and hollow microneedles. Methods of transdermal drug delivery based on microneedle patch are discussed, and various fabrication methods of microneedle patches are introduced.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.411.1-411.1
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• 2014

This study evaluates the utility of an antibacterial microneedle composed of green tea extract (GT) and hyaluronic acid (HA), for the efficient delivery of GT. These microneedles have the potential to be a patient-friendly method for the conventional sustained release of drugs. In this study, a fabrication method using a mold-based technique to produce GT/HA microneedles with a maximum area of ${\sim}60mm^2$ with antibacterial properties was used to manufacture transdermal drug delivery systems. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry was carried out to observe the potential modifications in the microneedles, when incorporated with GT. The degradation rate of GT in GT/HA microneedles was controlled simply by adjusting the HA composition. The effects of different ratios of GT in the HA microneedles were determined by measuring the release properties. In HA microneedles loaded with 70% GT (GT70), a continuous higher release rate were sustained for 72 h. The in vitro cytotoxicity assays demonstrated that GT/HA microneedles are not generally cytotoxic to chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1), human embryonic kidney cells (293T), and mouse muscle cells (C2C12), which were treated for 12 and 24 h. Antimicrobial activity of the GT/HA microneedles was demonstrated by ~95% growth reduction of gram negative [Escherichia coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas putida (P. putida) and Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium)] and gram positive bacteria [Staphylococcus aureus (S. Aureus) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis)], with GT70. Furthermore, GT/HA microneedles reduced bacterial growth in the infected skin wound sites and improved skin wound healing process in rat model.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.429-434
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• 2021

The feasibility of lecithin as a material for dissolving microneedles to improve skin permeability of drugs and the effect of the composition of lecithin on the mechanical strength, solubility, and skin permeability of rhodamine B (RhB) of the dissolving microneedles were investigated. Dissolving microneedles with needles of uniform shape and size were fabricated with the mold made using the laser-writing technique, simpler and more efficient method compared to the photolithography method, the conventional method to fabricate the microneedle mold. The composition of lecithin in the microneedle affected the mechanical strength and solubility of the needle thus, the mechanical strength of the needle increased as the composition of lecithin in the needle increased, resulting in improving the skin permeability of RhB contained in the microneedles. When comparing the microneedles containing same composition of amylopectin (AP), the skin permeability of RhB of the microneedles containing lecithin was higher. These results indicate that lecithin can be used as a material for dissolving microneedles and the skin permeability of the microneedle could be controlled by changing the composition of lecithin.

• Translational and Clinical Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2017

This study was performed to evaluate the use of vibrating microneedles for the transdermal delivery of vitamin C. The microneedles were designed to vibrate at three levels of intensity. In vitro permeation by vitamin C was evaluated according to the specific conditions such as vibration intensity (levels 1, 2 and 3), application time (1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 min), and application power (500, 700 and 1,000 g). The highest permeation of vitamin C was observed at level 3 of vibration intensity, 5 min of application, and 1,000 g of application power. Vitamin C gel showed no cytotoxic effect against Pam212 cells or skin irritation effects. A pharmacokinetic study of the gel in rats was conducted under optimized conditions. The $AUC_{0-{\infty}}$ and $C_{max}$ increased 1.35-fold and 1.44-fold, respectively, compared with those after vitamin C gel without application with vibrating microneedles. The present study suggests that vibrating microneedles can be used to facilitate the skin permeability of vitamin C under optimal conditions.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.423-428
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• 2024

Microneedles with micron-sized needle arrays are an emerging technology for the transdermal administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients with minimally invasive pain. Over the past decade, although various additive manufacturing technologies have been employed for precise fabrication of microneedles, these methods are often limited by material compatibility and bioavailability, in addition to being time-consuming and costly. In here, we compare the resolution of Polyjet and DLP-SLA 3D printing methods for the precise fabrication of biodegradable PCLDA/PEGDA microneedles. To enhance the structural accuracy of the microneedles from both printing methods, we evaluate the 3D printing conditions, including 3D printing angle and needle height and diameter. Molds for microneedles are fabricated using optimized 3D printing methods, and subsequent replica molding processes are employed to fabricate the polymeric microneedles with sharp need tips. Finally, we use photocurable PCLDA and PEGDA for biodegradable and biocompatible microneedles, and their mechanical properties as PCLDA concentrations are analyzed to assess the strength required for skin insertion. This study has demonstrated the efficient and low-cost fabrication of high-resolution microneedles for transdermal drug delivery.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.391-396
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• 2014

Polymer microneedles can be fabricated by a micromolding method, an easy and cost-effective method. However, it is not easy to achieve uniform coating with an aqueous coating solution due to hydrophobic surface of polymer microneedles. 3-Dimensional coating polymer microneedles could deliver more than twice as much dose as in-plane metal microneedles by increasing coating area and the number of microneedles per unit area. A uniform coating was not obtained by addition of coating additives in the coating solution. The satisfied coating was achieved by treatment of surface of polymer microneedle with metal deposition and UV/ozone, and UV/ozone treatment was an ultimate surface treatment method based on biological safety. Calcein coating polymer microneedles were prepared by using UV/ozone treatment and followed dip-coating, and they delivered calcein in porcine skin successfully after 15 min of insertion.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.556-561
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• 2021

Recently, iron oxide nanoparticles have been used as the subject of many studies on drug delivery system (DDS) due to their excellent magnetic properties and biocompatibility in response to external magnetic fields. In this study, hyaluronic acid-superparamagnetic microneedles (HA-SMNs) and carboxy methyl cellulose-superparamagnetic microneedles (CMC-SMNs) containing superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SIONs) were prepared with HA and CMC as a matrix materials of MNs (microneedles). Various properties of SMNs were then investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), superconducting quantum interference device-vibrating sample magnetometer (SQUD-VSM), frequency mixing magnetic detection (FMMD), and polymer/bio membrane. The SQUID-VSM measurements showed superparamagnetism of HA-SMNs and CMC-SMNs containing SIONs. The FMMD results demonstrated that the signal intensity changed significantly as the concentration of SIONs increased. In addition, SMNs exhibited the average skin permeability intensities on the bio membrane for HA-SMNs and CMC-SMNs were 92.5 and 98.5%, respectively. These results suggested that SMNs could be utilized as deliver materials for a TDDS and MR molecular imaging.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 2013

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows non-invasive, cross-sectional optical imaging of biological tissue with high spatial resolution and acquisition speed. In principle, it is analogous to ultrasound imaging, but uses near-infrared light instead of ultrasound, measuring the time-delay of back-scattered light from within biological tissue. Compared to ultrasound imaging, it exhibits superior spatial resolution (1~10 um) and high sensitivity. Therefore, OCT has been applied to a wide range of applications such as cellular imaging, ophthalmology and cardiology. Here, we describe a novel application of OCT technology in visualizing microneedles embedded in tissue that is developed to deliver drugs into the dermis without the injection mark in the human skin. Detailed three-dimensional structural images of microneedles and biological tissues were obtained. Examining structural modification of microneedles and tissues during insertion process would enable to evaluate performance of various types of microneedles in situ.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.12
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• pp.2221-2225
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• 2007

Hollow-type microneedle array can be used for painless, continuous and stable drug delivery through a human skin. The needles must be sharp and have sufficient length in order to penetrate the epidermis. An array of hollow-type silicon microneedles was fabricated by using deep reactive ion etching and HNA wet etching with two oxide masks. Isotropic etching was used to create tapered tips of the needles, and anisotropic etching of Bosch process was used to make the extended length and holes of microneedles. The microneedles were formed by three steps of isotropic, anisotropic, and isotropic etching in order. The holes were made by one anisotropic etching step. The fabricated microneedles have $170{\mu}m$ width, $40{\mu}m$ hole diameter and $230{\mu}m$ length.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.30-35
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• 2018

Conventional drug delivery methods mainly include subcutaneous injection and oral administration. Subcutaneous injection has the advantages of delivering the correct concentration, but it might cause pain and trauma to patients. Although oral administrations do not accompany pain as the subcutaneous injection, unexpected side effects may occur because they undergo digestion process and it is not easy for many drugs to be exposed to targeted sites with proper concentration. While dissolving microneedles have been extensively studied to overcome the limitations of conventional subcutaneous injection, the effects on microneedle shapes for drug release have not been fully explored. In this study, the characteristics of hyaluronic acid microneedles for cone and quadrangular pyramidal shapes were examined by the size, volume, contact surface area, skin permeability, and dissolution rate. As a result, the cone shapes of hyaluronic acid microneedles had high skin permeability, and the quadrangular pyramid of shapes hyaluronic acid microneedles showed a fast dissolution rate, given by the large contact area on the skin. Based on the results, we could confirm that the shape of a dissolving microneedles can affect skin permeability and the drug delivery rate.