Low cost additive manufacturing of microneedle masters
Low cost additive manufacturing of microneedle masters
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DOI：
10.1186/s41205-019-0039-x
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发表时间：
2019-01-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Procopio, Adam T.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Johnson, Ashley R.;Procopio, Adam T.
目的针贴片是一排微小的针，无痛地刺穿皮肤将药物输送到体内。生物相容性微针通常通过模制主结构来制造。尽管有证据表明微针几何形状是关键设计参数，但用于制造这些主结构的微制造技术是昂贵的、时间密集的，并且需要广泛的专业知识来控制结构的几何形状。在这里，市售的3D打印机是利用，为第一次，快速，轻松地制造microneedle masters.Design/methodology/approachBecause市售的3D打印机通常不用于微米级的制造，三个不同的误差源的影响-阶梯步进，混叠，和轻abberations-对所得的结构进行了研究。编写一个自定义Matlab代码来控制在给定时间投射到每个单独像素（通过灰度）的光强度。层的高度，层数，和灰度的锐度，表面纹理，和最终结构的尺寸保真度的效果described.FindingsThe Autodesk余烬是成功地利用制造尖锐的微针与尖端半径约为15 μ m，在不到30分钟每个补丁（相比，现有的方法的几个星期到几个月）。利用灰度提高了表面纹理和锐度，和所需的dimensions.Originality/valueThe所描述的3D打印技术，使调查人员能够准确地制造微针在几分钟内以低成本的尺寸精度在5%内实现。通过3D打印对微针几何形状进行快速迭代优化，将通过更好地理解微针结构与功能之间的关系来加速微针研究。
PurposeMicroneedle patches are arrays of tiny needles that painlessly pierce the skin to deliver medication into the body. Biocompatible microneedles are usually fabricated via molding of a master structure. Microfabrication techniques used for fabricating these master structures are costly, time intensive, and require extensive expertise to control the structure's geometry of the structure, despite evidence that microneedle geometry is a key design parameter. Here, a commercially available 3D printer is utilized, for the first time, to quickly and easily manufacture microneedle masters.Design/methodology/approachBecause commercially available 3D printers are not typically used for micron-scale fabrication, the influence of three different sources of error- stair-stepping, aliasing, and light abberations- on the resulting structure is investigated. A custom Matlab code is written to control the light intensity projected off of each individual micromirror (through grayscale) at a given time. The effect of the layer height, the number of layers, and grayscale on the sharpness, surface texture, and dimensional fidelity of the final structure is described.FindingsThe Autodesk Ember is successfully utilized to fabricate sharp microneedles with a tip radius of approximately 15 mu m in less than 30min per patch (as compared to weeks to months for existing approaches). Utilization of grayscale improves surface texture and sharpness, and dimensional fidelity within 5% of desired dimensions is achieved.Originality/valueThe described 3D printing technique enables investigators to accurately fabricate microneedles within minutes at low cost. Rapid, iterative optimization of microneedle geometry through 3D printing will accelerate microneedle research through improved understanding of the relationship between microneedle structure and function.