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.

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种用于药物输送和其他基于3D打印的应用的微针技术。添加剂制造是一种很有前途的技术，可以用于制造可定制的、复杂的和成本效益高的微针阵列(MNAs)。MNA设备是一种微米大小的针，可以刺穿组织(皮肤)的外层，以蛋白质、分子和/或多肽的形式将药物输送到体内。MNAs被认为是无痛、微创的设备。目前，使用模塑、化学湿法刻蚀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备，可定制性有限，并且缺乏对特定MN参数的灵活性。建议的技术允许对几何参数进行卓越的控制，如亚毫米高度、尖端清晰度和高纵横比。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接口。这个i-Corps项目基于微针阵列(MNA)设备的开发，MNA设备是微米大小的针，可以刺穿皮肤(表皮)的外层，将药物输送到体内。该技术基于可定制的立体光刻(SLA)技术，可使用生物兼容和可生物降解材料制造分辨率为10微米-100微米的高质量MNA器件。微针的尖端高度为200微米-800微米，直径为50微米-200微米。利用这种SLA先进制造技术，可以制造出各种MNA，如圆锥形、金字塔形、四面体、角度形、蜜蜂形和箭头形，具有高保真度和高机械性能。建议的微针技术可以连接目前的治疗方式，并可扩大到大规模的经皮应用。此外，3D打印微针可以嵌入药物，为各种医疗提供可调的药物释放动力学。这些MNA贴片将设计为具有卓越的机械强度和穿透能力，用于医院、门诊外科中心和专科诊所的经皮给药应用。这项技术最初的市场目标是糖尿病诊断，用于治疗1型糖尿病，提供胰岛素和调节血糖。此外，这些MNAs可能提供治疗效率，以及安全、无痛的皮肤渗透，可以很容易地适应其他药物输送模式。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。