MICRONEEDLE: AS A FUTURE PROSPECTIVE TOOL

Abstract

Optimization of drug delivery through human skin is important in modern therapy. With the limitations of oral drug delivery and the pain and needle phobias associated with traditional injections, drug delivery research has focused on the transdermal delivery route. These processing techniques incorporate one or more technologies that enable the precise machining, extrusion, casting, and/or forming of from one to an array or grid of micro needles. Evolving micro needle systems will be well positioned to address a significant segment of the large –molecule biological drugs expected to emerge from the convergence of automated discovery and genome mapping. To overcome the problems of oral route skin has been extensively studied as an alternative route of drug delivery. Using the tools of the microelectronics industry, microneedles have been fabricated with a range of sizes, shapes and materials. To address practical applications of microneedles, the ratio of microneedle fracture force to skin insertion force (i.e. margin of safety) was found to be optimal for needles with small tip radius and large wall thickness. Microneedles inserted into the skin of human subjects were reported as painless. Together, these results suggest that microneedles represent a promising technology to deliver therapeutic compounds into the skin for a range of possible applications.