Microneedle Applicator with Force-Feedback Sensor for Painless Drug Delivery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for percutaneous drug delivery, such as microneedles, are cumbersome, expensive, and difficult to fabricate, and often cause pain due to their complexity and mechanical integrity issues, especially when used for delivering large molecules through the skin.
Innovation Solution
A compact applicator with a built-in non-verbal instructional device featuring a microdevice for painlessly perforating the skin and a reservoir for active agents, utilizing high-aspect-ratio microneedles, microblades, or microknives to create microchannels in the stratum corneum without penetrating to the dermis, allowing for efficient and painless delivery of therapeutic and cosmetic agents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If microneedles are used for percutaneous drug delivery, then skin permeability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The applicator is divided into distinct functional regions: a first region containing the microdevice for skin perforation and a second region containing the active agent reservoir. This segmentation allows each region to be optimized independently, simplifying manufacturing while maintaining effective drug delivery functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The applicator integrates multiple functions into a single device: it既能 perforate the skin barrier with microneedles,又能 deliver the active agent through the same applicator body. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate devices and simplifies the overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If microneedles are used for percutaneous drug delivery, then skin permeability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the microdevice and active agent reservoir into a single integrated applicator unit. This combination eliminates the need for separate application steps and reduces overall manufacturing costs by consolidating production processes into one unified device.
Solution Approach 2:
The applicator is designed as a disposable device that can be manufactured at low cost using simple fabrication techniques. After single use, the entire applicator is discarded, eliminating the need for expensive sterilization and reuse processes, thereby reducing overall manufacturing and operational costs.
3Productivity
If microneedles penetrate deep into skin, then drug delivery efficiency is improved, but pain and discomfort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The microneedles are designed with specific local properties: they have sufficient length and sharpness to effectively perforate the stratum corneum for drug delivery, but their dimensions and material properties are optimized to minimize activation of pain receptors in deeper skin layers, thereby reducing pain and discomfort.
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
The applicator provides a safe, convenient, and cost-effective method for delivering drugs, vaccines, and cosmetic compounds through the skin with minimal discomfort, enhancing skin permeability and bioavailability of both small and large molecules, including those with molecular weights above 500 Daltons.
Implementation Method 1
These active substances can then diffuse through the rest of the epidermis to the dermis to be absorbed by blood vessels and lymphatics
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
The present subject matter relates to a built-in non-verbal compact instructional device integratable to an applicator having a microdevice for painlessly perforating the skin and optionally an active agent stored in a first chamber of the applicator for application to the area of skin being perforated The microdevice of the applicator can include microneedles, microneedle arrays, microblades, microblade arrays, microknives, microknife arrays, and Functional MicroArrays (FMAs) The built-in non-verbal compact instructional device verifies compliance with predetermined methods of using the applicator, such as, for example, a light to indicate that the microdevice is applied to the skin with the recommended amount of force for perforating the skin The applicator is useful for providing an enhanced delivery of an active agent for therapeutic or cosmetic treatment and improved systemic or localized delivery of an active agent, such as, for example, L-camitine, insulin, botulinum toxin, etc.