High-fidelity replication of thermoplastic microneedles with open microfluidic channels.

ABSTRACT: Development of microneedles for unskilled and painless collection of blood or drug delivery addresses the quality of healthcare through early intervention at point-of-care. Microneedles with submicron to millimeter features have been fabricated from materials such as metals, silicon, and polymers by subtractive machining or etching. However, to date, large-scale manufacture of hollow microneedles has been limited by the cost and complexity of microfabrication techniques. This paper reports a novel manufacturing method that may overcome the complexity of hollow microneedle fabrication. Prototype microneedles with open microfluidic channels are fabricated by laser stereolithography. Thermoplastic replicas are manufactured from these templates by soft-embossing with high fidelity at submicron

SUBMITTER: Faraji Rad Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6445010 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature