Micro-needle With Stepped Guide Grooves For Fast Medicine Delivery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current micro-needles require a long time to deliver medicine due to their melting nature, leading to incomplete administration of a fixed quantity when removed, as they may be partially non-melted, and existing methods lack efficiency in transdermal drug delivery.
Innovation Solution
A micro-needle design featuring a tip with inwardly stepped guide grooves and a waterproof coating, supported by a base, which allows for efficient penetration using air pressure, oil pressure, or electromagnetic force, and adjusts the volume and height of the guide grooves to control medicine delivery within a short period.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a melting micro-needle is used for transdermal drug delivery, then the medicine can be administered directly to the skin layer, but a relatively long period of time (30 minutes or more) is required to completely deliver the medicine
Solution Approach 1:
The tip is divided into multiple segments through guide grooves that create separate melting zones. This segmentation allows different portions of the tip to melt at different rates, enabling complete medicine delivery in a shorter time while maintaining direct administration capability
Solution Approach 2:
The guide grooves create local variations in the tip structure, with different regions having different melting characteristics. The grooves are positioned to control where melting occurs first, optimizing the delivery timeline without sacrificing direct administration effectiveness
2Productivity
If the micro-needle is removed after a determined administration time, then the procedure can be stopped, but the tip may be removed in a partially non-melted state resulting in incomplete medicine delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The guide grooves are pre-formed in the tip structure to predetermined depths and positions. This preliminary structuring ensures that when the tip is removed at the determined administration time, the medicine has already been delivered in the fixed quantity through the pre-planned melting pathways, guaranteeing complete delivery without requiring extended time
Solution Approach 2:
The guide grooves provide visual and structural feedback about the melting progress. As the tip melts, the grooves guide the melting front, allowing the system to self-regulate and ensure complete medicine delivery within the determined time frame, making the delivery reliable and repeatable
3Ease of operation
If the tip is designed to melt completely in body fluid, then medicine delivery is enhanced, but the structure becomes vulnerable to external environmental factors
Solution Approach 1:
A waterproof coating is applied to the outer surface of the tip, creating a protective shell that shields the internal medicine reservoir from external environmental factors such as moisture and contamination. This shell allows the tip to maintain its melting capability internally while being protected externally, resolving the contradiction between delivery enhancement and environmental vulnerability
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
Enhances the delivery of a fixed quantity of medicine within a short time by ensuring complete melting and penetration, improving reliability and capability, and protecting the micro-needle from external environments.
Implementation Method 1
The tip may penetrate into the skin using at least one of air pressure, oil pressure, spring, electromagnetic field, and acupressure
Implementation Method 2
The tip may penetrate into the skin using at least one of air pressure, oil pressure, spring, electromagnetic field, and acupressure
Implementation Method 3
a tip formed using medicine that penetrates into the skin and melts therein
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a micro-needle including a tip formed using medicine that penetrates into the skin and melts therein; and at least one guide groove each in a stepped shape inward from the outer surface of the tip, and provided to the tip. The micro-needle configured as above may be used to administer a fixed quantity of medicine within a relatively short period of time. Also, since a guide space stepped based on the tip is provided to a base that supports the tip, a large amount of medicine may easily penetrate into the skin.