Finite element analysis of polymer microneedle for transdermal drug delivery

Abstract

Abstract Microneedle plays a vital role in the modernized transdermal drug delivery system. The insertion process of microneedle into the soft tissue of the human skin is a significant study as there may be an occurrence of failures in microneedle due to the effects of bending and buckling. The failure of microneedle would create hazardous situations as the foreign particle is left behind into the human body and leads to unwanted side effects and reduces patient compliance. So, the biocompatibility of the microneedle can be improved by using polymer materials such as Polycarbonate (PC) and Polyurethane (PU) for fabrication. In this paper, the best suitable bio-polymer material is selected to improve the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery. The finite element analysis is performed to study and analyze the performance of different polymer-based microneedles during the insertion process into the soft tissue of the human skin. The numerical results compare the applied insertion force and the depth of the insertion of different polymer material with the conventional silicon microneedle. It is found that Polycarbonate a polymer-based microneedle withstands the applied force (40 N) and avoids failure during the insertion process into the human skin for transdermal drug delivery.