{"82751":{"#nid":"82751","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Report Describes Progress in Developing Microneedles for Painless Drug and Vaccine Delivery","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe paper describes research at the Georgia Institute of Technology on fabricating hollow and solid microneedles in a variety of sizes and shapes from metals, biodegradable polymers, silicon and glass.  It also reports on testing with cadaver skin and animals that demonstrates the ability of the micron-scale needles to deliver proteins, nanoparticles, and both small and large molecules through the skin.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve opened up the potential use of microneedles for delivering a broad range of therapeutics,\u0022 said Mark Prausnitz, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and principal investigator for the project.  \u0022Fabricating both hollow and solid microneedles in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials allows us to deliver large molecules with significant therapeutic interest such as insulin, proteins produced by the biotechnology industry, and nanoparticles that could encapsulate a drug or demonstrate the ability to deliver a virus for vaccinations.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s development of microneedles began in the late 1990s with microfabrication of solid needles made from silicon, using microlithography and etching technologies originally developed for the microelectronics industry.  The researchers produced arrays of up to 400 needles designed to punch holes in the outer layer of skin to increase its permeability to small molecules applied with patches.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat work has broadened to include both solid and hollow microneedles in a broad range of shapes with feature sizes from one to 1,000 microns.  Prausnitz and his research team have fabricated microneedle arrays from metal and polymer materials that have sufficient strength to reliably penetrate the skin without breakage.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMoving beyond the original - and complex - microelectronics-based fabrication techniques, the researchers have developed multiple manufacturing processes suitable for the mass production of microneedles from inexpensive metal and polymer materials.  By making molds of their silicon needles, for instance, the research team has produced arrays of identical metal or polymer microneedles using a modified form of injection molding that can readily be adapted to industrial mass production.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMolds were also made without the need for creating silicon needles to use as masters.  Metal microneedles were produced through electrodeposition onto laser-drilled polymer molds, while glass microneedle masters were fabricated using conventional drawn-glass micropipette techniques. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe broad range of sizes, shapes and materials will permit production of microneedle arrays customized for the type and volume of drug to be delivered, the time period of use, and most importantly, minimizing pain.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There are trade offs between getting needles to go into the skin easily, getting drugs to deliver easily and making needles that don\u0027t hurt,\u0022 Prausnitz said.  \u0022Not every application will need a different needle, but there will probably be classes of applications that will benefit from different needle designs.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"A paper published in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences \u003C\/em\u003Edescribes progress in the development of microneedle arrays for delivering drugs and vaccines through the skin - without causing pain.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-11-18 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:41","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-11-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2003-11-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/newsrelease\/needlespnas.htm","title":"Potential Applications"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}