I-Corps: 3D Printing of Microneedles for Transdermal Drug Delivery

I-Corps：用于透皮给药的微针 3D 打印

• 批准号: 2116181
• 负责人: Salil Desai
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-03-15 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2116181&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; 3D; Printing; Microneedles; Transdermal

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a microneedle technology for drug delivery and other applications based on 3D printing. Additive manufacturing is a promising technology that may be used for fabrication of customizable, complex, and cost-effective microneedles arrays (MNAs). MNA devices are micron-sized needles that pierce the outer layer of tissue (skin) to deliver drugs in the form of proteins, molecules, and/or peptides into the body. MNAs are considered painless, minimally invasive devices. Currently, MNA patches developed using traditional technologies such as molding, chemical wet etching, and direct laser micromachining require advanced manufacturing facilities, have limited customizability, and lack flexibility over specific MN parameters. The proposed technology allows superior control over geometric parameters such as sub-millimeter height, tip sharpness, and high-aspect ratio. Applications of MNA patches include drug delivery, electric stimulation, chemical biosensing, electrical biosignal recording, and neutral interfaces.This I-Corps project is based on the development of microneedle array (MNA) devices that are micron-sized needles that pierce the outer layer of skin (epidermis) to deliver drugs into the body. The proposed technology is based on a customizable stereolithography (SLA) technique for fabricating high quality MNA devices with 10 µm - 100 µm resolution using biocompatible and biodegradable materials. The microneedles may be fabricated with tip heights of 200 µm - 800 µm and diameters of 50 µm - 200 µm, respectively. Using this SLA advanced manufacturing technique, various MNAs such as conical-, pyramidal-, tetrahedron-, angled, honeybee structure, and arrowhead-shaped may be fabricated with high fidelity and mechanical properties. The proposed microneedle technology can bridge current treatment modalities and is amenable to scale-up for large-scale transdermal applications. Moreover, 3D printed microneedles may be embedded with pharmaceuticals providing tunable drug release kinetics for a variety of medical treatments. These MNA patches will be designed to possess superior mechanical strength and piercing capacity for transdermal drug delivery applications in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and specialty clinics. The initial market target of this technology is diabetes diagnostics to deliver insulin and regulate glucose for Type 1 diabetes treatment. In addition, these MNAs may provide therapeutic efficiency, and safe, painless penetration through skin that may be easily adapted for other drug delivery modalities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该 I-Corps 项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发用于药物输送和其他基于 3D 打印的应用的微针技术，增材制造是一项有前途的技术，可用于制造可定制的、复杂的和成本低廉的产品。有效的微针阵列 (MNA) 装置是微米大小的针，可刺穿组织（皮肤）外层，以将蛋白质、分子和/或肽形式的药物输送到体内。 MNA 被认为是无痛、微创设备。目前，使用成型、化学湿法蚀刻和直接激光微加工等传统技术开发的 MNA 贴片需要先进的制造设施，可定制性有限，并且缺乏对特定 MN 参数的灵活性。对亚毫米高度、尖端锐度和高纵横比等几何参数的卓越控制 MNA 贴片的应用包括药物输送、电刺激、化学生物传感、电生物信号记录和中性。该 I-Corps 项目基于微针阵列 (MNA) 设备的开发，这些设备是微米大小的针，可刺穿皮肤外层（表皮）以将药物输送到体内。所提出的技术基于可定制的技术。立体光刻 (SLA) 技术，使用生物相容性和可生物降解材料制造分辨率为 10 µm - 100 µm 的高质量 MNA 设备。微针可采用尖端高度制造。直径分别为 200 µm - 800 µm 和直径 50 µm - 200 µm 使用这种 SLA 先进制造技术，可以制造各种 MNA，例如圆锥形、金字塔形、四面体、有角度的、蜜蜂结构和箭头形。所提出的微针技术可以桥接当前的治疗方式，并且适合大规模经皮放大。此外，3D 打印的微针可以嵌入药物，为各种医疗提供可调的药物释放动力学，这些 MNA 贴片将被设计为具有卓越的机械强度和刺穿能力，适用于医院、门诊手术中心的透皮给药应用。该技术的最初市场目标是糖尿病诊断，以提供胰岛素和调节血糖以治疗 1 型糖尿病。此外，这些 MNA 可以提供治疗效率，并且可以轻松地安全、无痛地渗透到皮肤。适用于其他药物输送方式。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。