Fabrication of hollow microneedle arrays using electrodeposition of metal onto solvent cast conductive polymer structures

Abstract

Transdermal drug delivery can potentially replace hypodermic needles for injection of many compounds. The batch production of metallic microneedle arrays has been restricted by the time-consuming steps associated with previous fabrication processes. Here, we are presenting a process that allows rapid production of microneedle arrays with any number of needles as well as any desired needle dimensions. Our process uses solvent casting to form a conductive polymer layer on a mold, which is then used as a seed layer in an electroplating process. Needles with a length of 500 μm made in this process showed failure strength to compressive loads of 4.2 ± 0.61 N. A suspension of 2.28 μm large beads was injected up to 200 μm deep into pig skin.