Flexible Transdermal Drug Delivery Device with Microneedle Pores
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current transdermal drug delivery methods face challenges such as the stability and integrity issues of drugs, particularly proteins, due to processing conditions like inertia, high temperatures, and pressure, which can lead to agglomeration, fragmentation, and degradation, and inefficiencies in delivering drugs through the skin's stratum corneum, with most drugs remaining on the surface rather than being absorbed.
Innovation Solution
A transdermal drug delivery device with flexible chamber walls that allows a needle to create pores in the skin and a drug chamber to insert the drug alongside the needle, minimizing surface wastage and avoiding harsh processing conditions, by using a device with differential flexibility between the needle and drug chambers to ensure precise delivery and absorption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If hollow microneedles are used to deliver fluid drug through the stratum corneum, then drug delivery is achieved, but the inertia created by fluid flow through the bores affects drug stability and integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the fluid flow pathway from the needle structure itself and replaces it with a solid microneedle that creates a pore in the skin. The drug is then applied topically and enters through the created pore without requiring high-velocity fluid flow through needle bores, thereby eliminating the harmful inertial effects while maintaining delivery efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a pore-creating microneedle as an intermediary that facilitates drug entry without directly transporting the drug through high-velocity flow. The microneedle creates the access pathway, and the drug is then delivered through a separate, low-stress topical application process, separating the pore-creation function from the drug transport function
2Stability of the object's composition
If solid microneedles are used to create pores in the skin, then permeability is enhanced, but most of the subsequently applied drug remains on the surface rather than entering the pores
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs the pore-creating action with microneedles before applying the drug formulation. By pre-creating multiple pores across the treatment area, the skin is prepared to accept and absorb the subsequently applied drug more effectively, ensuring better penetration compared to applying drug alone
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses an array of multiple microneedles that create numerous discrete pores across the skin surface, segmenting the delivery area into multiple access points. This segmented approach increases the total surface area for drug entry and improves overall absorption efficiency compared to a single pore or non-porous approaches
3Ease of manufacture
If high pressure is applied to compress the drug itself into needles, then microneedles are formed, but the processing conditions affect drug stability and can cause degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the drug from the microneedle structure itself, using solid microneedles made of inert or biocompatible materials rather than compressing the drug into needle form. This separates the structural function (provided by the microneedle material) from the therapeutic function (provided by the applied drug), eliminating the need for high-pressure drug compression and preserving drug stability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite or multi-material construction where the microneedles are made from materials optimized for mechanical strength and skin penetration (such as metals, ceramics, or polymers), while the drug is applied separately in its own optimized formulation. This allows each component to be manufactured under appropriate conditions without compromising the other
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables controlled, precise delivery of drugs directly into the skin's pores, minimizing wastage and protecting the drug's integrity, suitable for various formulations, including solids and semi-solids, by using a device that accommodates the drug's insertion alongside the needle, ensuring minimal trauma and efficient absorption.
Implementation Method 1
the device has sufficient flexibility to allow a distance between first chamber wall and the second chamber wall to increase as the drug mass is inserted alongside the needle
Data Source
AI summary
This invention relates to a device that uses microneedles to create pores in the skin of a subject and delivers the drug transdermally by inserting it into the pore as a solid or semi-solid mass alongside each needle. The device is sufficiently flexible to allow relative movement of the needle and the drug mass apart from one another. Preferably a chamber holding the drug mass comprises a relatively rigid wall to ensure that the drug remains aligned close to the needle, while an adjacent chamber holding the needle comprises a relatively flexible wall to allow lateral movement of the needle as the drug is inserted alongside it.