• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1871-1876
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• 2004

We demonstrate a novel fabrication technology for the microneedle array that can be used in the medical test field, which is transdermal drug delivery and blood analyte sampling. Previous researchers have used silicon-processed micromachining, a reactive ion etching, and molding techniques for the fabrication of microneedle array. However, these fabrication techniques have somewhat limitations apply to the microneedle array fabrication according to its application. Inclined LIGA process is suggested to overcome these problems. This process provides easier, sharper and longer out-of-plane microneedle array structure than conventional silicon-processed fabrication method did. Additionally, because of the advantage of the LIGA process based on mold fabrication for mass production, the polymer, PMMA(PolyMethylMethAcrylate), based microneedle array is useful as the mold base of nickel electroplating process; on the other hand, silicon-processed microneedle array is used in itself. In this research, we fabricate different types of out-of-plane microneedle array, which have different shape of tip, base and hole structure, using the inclined LIGA process. The fabricated microneedles have proper mechanical strength, height and sharpness to puncture human hand epidermis or dermis with less pain and without needle tip break during penetrating the skin.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2015

This paper addresses the state of arts of microneedles for the transdermal drug delivery applications. Microneedles can be classified based on materials and shapes. For the materials, microneedles could be made of ceramics, metals and polymers. The shape of the microneedles can be classified into solid and hollow microneedles. Methods of transdermal drug delivery based on microneedle patch are discussed, and various fabrication methods of microneedle patches are introduced.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.30-35
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• 2018

Conventional drug delivery methods mainly include subcutaneous injection and oral administration. Subcutaneous injection has the advantages of delivering the correct concentration, but it might cause pain and trauma to patients. Although oral administrations do not accompany pain as the subcutaneous injection, unexpected side effects may occur because they undergo digestion process and it is not easy for many drugs to be exposed to targeted sites with proper concentration. While dissolving microneedles have been extensively studied to overcome the limitations of conventional subcutaneous injection, the effects on microneedle shapes for drug release have not been fully explored. In this study, the characteristics of hyaluronic acid microneedles for cone and quadrangular pyramidal shapes were examined by the size, volume, contact surface area, skin permeability, and dissolution rate. As a result, the cone shapes of hyaluronic acid microneedles had high skin permeability, and the quadrangular pyramid of shapes hyaluronic acid microneedles showed a fast dissolution rate, given by the large contact area on the skin. Based on the results, we could confirm that the shape of a dissolving microneedles can affect skin permeability and the drug delivery rate.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.429-434
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• 2021

The feasibility of lecithin as a material for dissolving microneedles to improve skin permeability of drugs and the effect of the composition of lecithin on the mechanical strength, solubility, and skin permeability of rhodamine B (RhB) of the dissolving microneedles were investigated. Dissolving microneedles with needles of uniform shape and size were fabricated with the mold made using the laser-writing technique, simpler and more efficient method compared to the photolithography method, the conventional method to fabricate the microneedle mold. The composition of lecithin in the microneedle affected the mechanical strength and solubility of the needle thus, the mechanical strength of the needle increased as the composition of lecithin in the needle increased, resulting in improving the skin permeability of RhB contained in the microneedles. When comparing the microneedles containing same composition of amylopectin (AP), the skin permeability of RhB of the microneedles containing lecithin was higher. These results indicate that lecithin can be used as a material for dissolving microneedles and the skin permeability of the microneedle could be controlled by changing the composition of lecithin.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.25-29
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• 2016

Recently, a hyaluronic acid micro needle patch for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes has been used by attaching directly to the skin with a pattern having a micro needle shape of 1/3 thickness of hair. These products are attracting attention as an innovative product that maximizes the effect by activating the active ingredient in the skin in the deep skin without blocking the horny layer because the micro needle shape exists on the patch surface so that it can penetrate effectively to the skin. Currently, DAB (droplet air blowing) or MEMS technology is used to make pattern shapes for patches. Because of this technology, manufacturing time is long and manufacturing cost is high, so we tried to develop the mold technology to machine the microneedle shape directly to the metal. In this study, we first fabricated a needle pattern with a quadrangular pyramid shape and finally produced a conical needle pattern.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.608-613
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• 2007

Fine pitch microprobe arrays are microneedle-like probes for inspecting the pixel of LCD panel. They are usually made of multilayers of metallic, nonmetallic, or combination of the two. In this study, the microprobe arrays were fabricated using the process applied for MEMS fabrication technology and they consist of BeCu, BeNi, or Si. Their contacting probing force and deflection were measured using the laser equipment. The design requirement are 5gf of a minimum contact force and $150{\mu}m$ of a maximum deflection. A lot of microprobe shape are possible satisfying the requirement. A double cantilever-type microprobe having needles on both ends were applied for this study. Several candidate were chosen using the topology and shape optimization technique subjected to the design requirements. Finite element results and experimental results were compared and both gave good correlation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.731-736
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• 2016

Three-dimensional (3D) high-aspect-ratio (HAR) microstructures for biomedical applications (e.g., microneedle, microadhesive, etc.) are microfabricated using the hybrid ultraviolet (UV) lithography in which inclined, rotational, and reverse-side UV exposure processes are combined together. The inclined and rotational UV exposure processes are intended to fabricate tapered axisymmetric HAR microstructures; the reverse-side UV exposure process is designed to sharpen the end tip of the microstructures by suppressing the UV reflection on a bottom substrate which is inevitable in conventional UV lithography. Hybrid UV lithography involves fabricating 3D HAR microstructures with an epoxy-based negative photoresist, SU-8, using our customized UV exposure system. The effects of hybrid UV lithography parameters on the geometry of the 3D HAR microstructures (aspect ratio, radius of curvature of the end tip, etc.) are measured. The dependence of the end-tip shape on SU-8 soft-baking condition is also discussed.