TY - JOUR
T1 - Bio-inspired microneedle design for efficient drug/vaccine coating
AU - Plamadeala, Cristina
AU - Gosain, Saransh R.
AU - Hischen, Florian
AU - Buchroithner, Boris
AU - Puthukodan, Sujitha
AU - Jacak, Jaroslaw
AU - Bocchino, Andrea
AU - Whelan, Derek
AU - O’Mahony, Conor
AU - Baumgartner, Werner
AU - Heitz, Johannes
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - Biomimetics is the interdisciplinary scientific field focused on the study and imitation of biological systems, with the aim of solving complex technological problems. In this paper, we present a new bio-inspired design for microneedles (MNs) and MN arrays, intended for rapidly coating the MNs with drug/vaccine. The biomimetic approach consists in ornamenting the lateral sides of pyramidal MNs with structures inspired by the external scent efferent systems of some European true bugs, which facilitate a directional liquid transport. To realize these MNs, two-photon polymerization (TPP) technique was used. Liquid coating capabilities of structured and non-structured MNs were compared. Moreover, both in-vivo and ex-vivo skin tests were performed to prove that MNs pierce the skin. We show that the arrays of MNs can be accurately replicated using a micro-moulding technique. We believe this design will be beneficial for the process of drug/vaccine loading onto the needles’ surfaces, by making it more efficient and by reducing the drug/vaccine wastage during MN coating process.
AB - Biomimetics is the interdisciplinary scientific field focused on the study and imitation of biological systems, with the aim of solving complex technological problems. In this paper, we present a new bio-inspired design for microneedles (MNs) and MN arrays, intended for rapidly coating the MNs with drug/vaccine. The biomimetic approach consists in ornamenting the lateral sides of pyramidal MNs with structures inspired by the external scent efferent systems of some European true bugs, which facilitate a directional liquid transport. To realize these MNs, two-photon polymerization (TPP) technique was used. Liquid coating capabilities of structured and non-structured MNs were compared. Moreover, both in-vivo and ex-vivo skin tests were performed to prove that MNs pierce the skin. We show that the arrays of MNs can be accurately replicated using a micro-moulding technique. We believe this design will be beneficial for the process of drug/vaccine loading onto the needles’ surfaces, by making it more efficient and by reducing the drug/vaccine wastage during MN coating process.
KW - Biomimetics
KW - Directed fluid transport
KW - Microfluidics
KW - Microneedles
KW - Two-photon polymerization
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85076465648
U2 - 10.1007/s10544-019-0456-z
DO - 10.1007/s10544-019-0456-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 31845066
AN - SCOPUS:85076465648
SN - 1387-2176
VL - 22
JO - Biomedical Microdevices
JF - Biomedical Microdevices
IS - 1
M1 - 8
ER -