PUNCTURE DEPTH AND THE MECHANICAL STABILITY OF MICRONEEDLES

D. C. C. Lam, Y. H. Lee, K. T. Shek, G. Pang

2008

Abstract

Microneedles penetrating less than 1mm beneath the skin can deliver the drugs directly without piercing blood vessels or damaging nerves. The mechanical stability and the puncture behaviour were investigated experimentally by inserting steel needles into silicone rubber and pig skin. Puncture tests revealed that the length of needle buried in the flesh is less than 50% of the nominal insertion depth when the insertion depth is less 1mm. The mechanical stability of the buried needle-flesh assembly, characterized by the force needed to retract the needle, decreased with buried depth and needle diameter. Analysis of the load data suggested that a 100-micron diameter microneedle buried 100 microns deep in pig skin would have a retraction force of 0.1mN, which is only 1% of the retraction force of a conventional needle inserted 5mm into the skin. This suggests that the usage of microneedles in arrays is necessary to increase stability and to enable stable drug delivery.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

C. C. Lam D., H. Lee Y., T. Shek K. and Pang G. (2008). PUNCTURE DEPTH AND THE MECHANICAL STABILITY OF MICRONEEDLES . In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices - Volume 2: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2008) ISBN 978-989-8111- 17-3, pages 291-296. DOI: 10.5220/0001054802910296

in Bibtex Style

@conference{biodevices08,
author={D. C. C. Lam and Y. H. Lee and K. T. Shek and G. Pang},
title={PUNCTURE DEPTH AND THE MECHANICAL STABILITY OF MICRONEEDLES},
booktitle={Proceedings of the First International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices - Volume 2: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2008)},
year={2008},
pages={291-296},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0001054802910296},
isbn={978-989-8111- 17-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the First International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices - Volume 2: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2008)
TI - PUNCTURE DEPTH AND THE MECHANICAL STABILITY OF MICRONEEDLES
SN - 978-989-8111- 17-3
AU - C. C. Lam D.
AU - H. Lee Y.
AU - T. Shek K.
AU - Pang G.
PY - 2008
SP - 291
EP - 296
DO - 10.5220/0001054802910296