Fabrication of a Ti porous microneedle array by metal injection molding for transdermal drug delivery

Microneedle arrays (MA) have been extensively investigated in recent decades for transdermal drug delivery due to their pain-free delivery, minimal skin trauma, and reduced risk of infection. However, porous MA received relatively less attention due to their complex fabrication process and ease of f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2017-02, Vol.12 (2), p.e0172043-e0172043
Main Authors: Li, Jiyu, Liu, Bin, Zhou, Yingying, Chen, Zhipeng, Jiang, Lelun, Yuan, Wei, Liang, Liang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Animals
Biocompatibility
Biology and Life Sciences
Calcein
Drug delivery
Drug delivery systems
Engineering and Technology
Fabrication
Fluoresceins - administration & dosage
Forearm
Health risks
Humans
Hypodermic needles
Injection
Injection molded metals
Injection molding
Injections, Intradermal - instrumentation
Injections, Intradermal - methods
Iontophoresis
Mass production
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metals
Microneedle drug delivery
Microtechnology - methods
Molding (process)
Needles
Pain
Physical Sciences
Porosity
Rabbits
Research and Analysis Methods
Rhodamine
Risk reduction
Sensors
Sintering (powder metallurgy)
Skin
Surgical implants
Technology application
Titanium
Transdermal medication
Trauma
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Summary:Microneedle arrays (MA) have been extensively investigated in recent decades for transdermal drug delivery due to their pain-free delivery, minimal skin trauma, and reduced risk of infection. However, porous MA received relatively less attention due to their complex fabrication process and ease of fracturing. Here, we present a titanium porous microneedle array (TPMA) fabricated by modified metal injection molding (MIM) technology. The sintering process is simple and suitable for mass production. TPMA was sintered at a sintering temperature of 1250°C for 2 h. The porosity of TPMA was approximately 30.1% and its average pore diameter was about 1.3 μm. The elements distributed on the surface of TPMA were only Ti and O, which may guarantee the biocompatibility of TPMA. TPMA could easily penetrate the skin of a human forearm without fracture. TPMA could diffuse dry Rhodamine B stored in micropores into rabbit skin. The cumulative permeated flux of calcein across TPMA with punctured skin was 27 times greater than that across intact skin. Thus, TPMA can continually and efficiently deliver a liquid drug through open micropores in skin.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0172043