Abstract
Transdermal drug delivery TDD systems have many advantages but are conventionally limited by the low permeability of skin. The idea of using microneedles to painlessly penetrate the topmost impermeable stratum corneum has previously been put forward. In this paper, the fabrication of solid and hollow silicon microneedles with straight side-walls and with the following dimensions: 20–100 μm in diameter and 100–150 μm in length is described. In vitro tests demonstrate that with prior solid microneedle application, transdermal drug transport is significantly increased by 10–20 times, with the degree of enhancement being related to needle diameter. In vivo tests in diabetic animals, however, were unable to demonstrate any delivery of insulin through the hollow microneedles. It is proposed that two factors, microneedle length and tip sharpness, have to be improved for systemic drug delivery to be seen in vivo.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B.W. Barry, European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 14, 101–114 (2001).
A.H. Beckett, in Dermal & Transdermal Absorption, edited by R. Brandau and B.H. Lippold (Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellchaft mbH, Stuttgart, 1982), p. 155.
R.L. Bronaugh, R.F. Stewart, and E.R. Congdon, Toxicol App Pharmacol 62, 481–488 (1982).
L. Brown and R. Langer, Annual Reviews in Medicine 39, 221–229 (1988).
J.G.E. Gardeniers, J.W. Berenschot, M.J. deBoer, Y. Yeshurun, M. Hefetz, R. van’t Oever, and A. van den Berg, IEEE MEMS Proceedinds (Las Vegas, USA, 2002), p. 141.
M. Goldman, Transdermal Drug Delivery: D & MD Publications 6(8), 2 (2004).
S. Henry, D.V. McAllister, M.G. Allen, and M.R. Prausnitz, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 87(8), 922–925 (1998).
S. Kaushik, A.H Hord, D.D Denson, D.V. McAllister, S. Smitra, M.G. Allen, and M.R. Prausnitz, Anesth Analg 92(2), 502–504 (2001).
L. Lin and A.P. Pisano, IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems 8(1), 78–84 (1999).
W. Martanto, S. Davis, N. Holiday, J. Wang, H Gill, and M.R. Praunitz, in Proceedings of International Symposium on Controlled Release Bioactive Material (2003), vol. 666.
J.A. Martriano, M. Cormier, J. Johnson, W.A. Young, Buttery M.K. Nyam, and P.E. Daddona, Pharm Res 19(1), 63–70 (2002).
D.V. McAllister, O.M. Wang, S.P. Davis, J.K. Park, P.J. Canatella, M.G. Allen, and M.R. Prausnitz, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 100(24), 13755–13760 (2003).
J.A. Mikszta, J.B. Alarcon, J.M Brittingham, D.E. Sutter, R.J. Pettis, and N.G. Harvey, Nature Medicine 8(4), 415–419 (2002).
L.S. Morris and R.M. Schulz, J. Clin. Pharm. Ther. 17, 283–295 (1992).
I. Papautsky and J. Brazzle, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 47(6), 812–819 (2000).
V.P. Shah, in Transdermal Drug Delivery 2nd edn., edited by R.H. Guy and J. Hadgraft (Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, 2003), p. 365.
B. Stoeber and D. Liepmann, in 1st Annual International Conference on Microtechnologies (Lyon, France, 2000) poster 34.
World Health Organization, Chronicle 39(2), 51–56 (1985).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Teo, M.A.L., Shearwood, C., Ng, K.C. et al. In Vitro and In Vivo Characterization of MEMS Microneedles. Biomed Microdevices 7, 47–52 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-005-6171-y
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-005-6171-y