1. BME 281 Dr. Sun Margaret Franklin
Microneedle Arrays
BME 281 Dr. Sun
Margaret Franklin

2. What are Microneedle Arrays?
Small patches (less than a square inch) made up of small needles
Deliver medicine to the skin rather than the muscle
Better immune responses because the body encounters pathogens first on its surface

3. History
First discovered in 1998 but become a much more common interest in recent years
First made out of silicon
Easy manufacturing process
Any shape
Any size

4. How It’s Made 4 types of microneedles
Made from many different types of materials
Plastic
Metal
Polymer
Glass
Ceramic

5. Layers of Skin Microneedle arrays are small and invasive
Pass through the epidermis layer of the skin, but do not enter the dermis
Doesn’t encounter the nerves, so no pain is present

6. How it Works Needles are dry- hard and sharp
Injected into the skin- body fluids surround needles and make them swell
The hard polymer that was on the inside turns into a soft material that keeps the skin open while the medicine is let out of the microneedle and into the body
The soft microneedle is then painlessly removed

7. Simple and safe

8. Why is This Better? No pain
The needles can never accidently stick another body
Vaccines don’t need health clinics to administer the shot
No disposable procedure needed
Cost effective
No temperature control
Proper dosage
Greater quantities

9. Future Microneedle capsules Allow for oral delivery of large molecules
Made up of
Drug reservoir
pH-sensitive coating

10. References
S. Kaushik, A.H. Hord, D.D. Denson, D.V. McAllister, S. Smitra, M.G. Allen, M.R. Prausnitz Lack of pain associated with microfabricated microneedles Anesth. Analg., 92 (2001), pp. 502–504
Hong, Xiaoyun, and Weien Yuan. "Hydrogel Microneedle Arrays for Transdermal Drug Delivery." Springer. N.p., 1 July Web. 20 Sept
Trafton, Anne. "New Drug-delivery Capsule May Replace Injections." MIT News. N.p., 1 Oct Web. 20 Sept
Kim, Yeu-Chun, Jung-Hwan Park, and Mark R. Prausnitz. "Microneedles for Drug and Vaccine Delivery." Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 64.14 (2012): Web