Biodegradable Microneedle Patch for Transdermal Drug Delivery in Normal and Damaged Skin

Development of Biodegradable Microneedle Patch for Transdermal Drug Delivery in Normal and Damaged Skin

The most important objectives of this project are the development of protocols for and fabrication/production of polymer micro-needle patches which are biodegradable, capable of proper delivery of the drug to the intended wound, and without causing pain. Moreover, they can potentially increase the impact of the drug on the wound site and improve its healing process.

This method rivals with older techniques such as administering injections by hypodermic needles and oral medication. There are many objections as to use these hypodermic needles which include: the sudden insertion of the whole medication, throwing away the sharp tip of the needle as a disposable waste leading to the infection and injury of the others, call for the expert recruitment and also the painful process of administering the needles. The application of the common oral medication encounters certain limitations, too. For example, there is the possibility of preventing the drug delivery into the blood due to the hepatic first pass metabolism. On the other hand, the application of MN arrays through the skin tissue causes the least harm without agitating the terminal of the nervous fibers. 

Two type of biodegradable microneedle samples with different height and radius size fabricated in preliminary studies in our laboratory.