Case Study: Affordable, Painless Microneedles
Overview
The Stoeber Lab is collaborating with dermatological and pharmaceutical science researchers at UBC to develop a painless microneedle patch that will cost only 10 cents apiece.
The necessity of having medical professionals administer hypodermic needles is a major obstacle in global health, especially in medically remote areas. It prevents people from getting vaccines early or at all, thus significantly raising the risk of disease and epidemics. Replacing traditional hypodermic needles with a simple patch would help solve these issues by allowing anyone to administer drugs and vaccines, in addition to allowing patients (such as those with diabetes or cancer) to constantly and effortlessly monitor blood properties.
Funding
The project is funded by the following institutes:
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) through a Catalyst grant
- Collaborative Health Research Projects (CHRP) program by NSERC/CIHR.
Solution
Dr. Stoeber, in collaboration with Prof. Haferli (Pharmaceutical Sciences) and Prof. Dutz (Dermatology), had previously developed a unique silicon microneedle. Yet with its significant production price, the device would not allow for affordable worldwide commercialisation.
After 14 years of research and multiple iterations, the lab is now working on its final step: the manufacturing and material optimisation of an inexpensive metal coated structure. The material is similar to that of standard intradermic needles, allowing for an ideal bodily response. The needle is engineered to have an effective penetration of 1/10th of a millimetre under the skin; in other words, to only pierce the upper skin layer. This approach prevents damaging the second layer containing all the nerves, thus causing no pain while maintaining the usual intradermic needle metabolism absorption rate.
Extensive research has been done to determine how to ensure custom high manufacturing precision in a product engineered for large scale, inexpensive production. The team focuses on minimising overall batch production cost through various mainstream deposition techniques. Material compositions have been optimised to yield high compressive and buckling resistance, thus minimising medical complications and material failure.
500 μm , 40μm (hair sized) diameter needle array
Results
The research and the product have received worldwide coverage and praise. Further optimisation is ongoing and institutional approvals are on the way.
The needle is expected to be marketable by 2018.
The Lab : Stoeber Laboratory
The Stoeber lab pursues research in a wide range of areas in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microfluidics.
Its expertise is recognised in the development of microflow control strategies; in the flow physics investigation of complex microflows; and in the development of microflow characterization methods.
The lab also works on microoptical devices, sensing technology, biomedical microdevices, and fabrication techniques for microelectromechanical structures.