Modeling of transdermal drug delivery with a microneedle array

• Published in: Journal of micromechanics and microengineering Vol. 16; no. 11; pp. 2492 - 2501
• Main Authors: Lv, Y-G, Liu, J, Gao, Y-H, Xu, B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.11.2006; Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Mechanical engineering. Machine design; Mechanical instruments, equipment and techniques; Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology); Micromechanical devices and systems; Physics; Precision engineering, watch making; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Nanometer scale; Gripping; Transient response; Microelectronic fabrication; Needle; Microequipment; Glass; Drug dispensation; Metal; Experimental study; Modeling; Silicon polymer
• DOI: 10.1088/0960-1317/16/11/034
• ISSN: 0960-1317

Transdermal drug delivery is generally limited by the extraordinary barrier properties of the stratum corneum, the outer 10-15 mum layer of skin. A conventional needle inserted across this barrier and into deeper tissues could effectively deliver drugs. However, it would lead to infection and cause pain, thereby reducing patient compliance. In order to administer a frequent injection of insulin and other therapeutic agents more efficiently, integrated arrays with very short microneedles were recently proposed as very good candidates for painless injection or extraction. A variety of microneedle designs have thus been made available by employing the fabrication tools of the microelectronics industry and using materials such as silicon, metals, polymers and glass with feature sizes ranging from sub-micron to nanometers. At the same time, experiments were also made to test the capability of the microneedles to inject drugs into tissues. However, due to the difficulty encountered in measurement, a detailed understanding of the spatial and transient drug delivery process still remains unclear up to now. To better grasp the mechanisms involved, quantitative theoretical models were developed in this paper to simultaneously characterize the flow and drug transport, and numerical solutions were performed to predict the kinetics of dispersed drugs injected into the skin from a microneedle array. Calculations indicated that increasing the initial injection velocity and accelerating the blood circulation in skin tissue with high porosity are helpful to enhance the transdermal drug delivery. This study provides the first quantitative simulation of fluid injection through a microneedle array and drug species transport inside the skin. The modeling strategy can also possibly be extended to deal with a wider range of clinical issues such as targeted nanoparticle delivery for therapeutics or molecular imaging.