Transdermal Microneedle Patch with Metal Barbules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transdermal microneedle array patches face challenges with brittle silicon microneedles that break easily and hollow microneedles with irregular edges and difficult manufacturing processes, leading to invasive and painful tissue fluid sampling.
Innovation Solution
A transdermal microneedle array patch with microneedles made by punching or etching, using materials like stainless steel or titanium, with barbules that provide mechanical strength and a simple manufacturing process, allowing for intact microneedle insertion and coating of sensing polymers on the inner surface for painless sampling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If silicon microneedles are used for transdermal sampling, then the microneedles can be manufactured with standard semiconductor processes, but the microneedles are brittle and break when pricking through skin
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses polyimide as the base material and combines it with metal barbules (stainless steel, nickel, or titanium) to create a composite microneedle structure. The polyimide provides flexibility and biocompatibility, while the metal barbules provide the necessary mechanical strength and sharpness for painless skin penetration, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and mechanical strength.
2Ease of manufacture
If hollow microneedles with resin barbules are used, then the microneedles can be formed by extrusion, but the barbules have ragged edges and are difficult to manufacture with uniform inner diameter
Solution Approach 1:
The microneedle structure is segmented into two distinct parts: the polyimide shaft formed by extrusion and the separate metal barbules attached to the tip. This segmentation allows the barbules to be manufactured separately with precise dimensions and sharp edges using metal forming processes, then attached to the extruded polyimide shaft, thereby achieving both ease of manufacture and high manufacturing precision.
3Productivity
If conventional needle piercing is used to withdraw tissue fluid, then the sampling can be performed, but the patient feels pain and may be infected by microorganisms
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the needle by creating microneedles with tip diameters of 1-10 micrometers, which is thousands of times smaller than conventional needles. This parameter change allows the microneedles to penetrate the stratum corneum painlessly while minimizing damage to underlying tissues and reducing infection risk, thereby maintaining sampling capability while eliminating harmful effects.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a transdermal microneedle array patch for measuring a concentration of a hypodermal target molecule. The transdermal microneedle array patch includes a substrate, a microneedle unit, a signal processing unit and a power supply unit. The microneedle unit at least comprises a first microneedle set used as a working electrode and a second microneedle set used as a reference electrode, the first and second microneedle sets arranging on the substrate. Each microneedle set comprises at least a microneedle. The first microneedle set comprises at least a sheet having a through hole on which a barbule forms at the edge. One of the sheet provides the through hole from which the barbules at the edge of the other sheets go through, and the barbules are disposed separately.