Stereolithography (SLA) 3D Printing Technology in Microneedles

Abstract

Many of the drugs show enzymatic degradation in gastrointestinal tract (GIT) or they show difficulty in permeation. In these cases, microneedles (MN) based transdermal drug delivery system offers attractive alternative to conventional needle-based and oral drug delivery systems. Microneedle drug delivery system consists of an arrangement of micrometric arrays which can be formulated with the use of different polymers and technologies. This present review is related to manufacturing of biocompatible microneedles” formulated with an aid of stereolithography (SLA) - a 3D printing technique in which microneedle patches of different shapes are constructed in the form of layers. The MN patches could be coated using inkjet printing. An SLA printer could be employed to print pyramid needle-based arrays. X-ray computer micro tomography (CT) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) could be used to assess the standard of the formed microneedles and subsequent coatings. In vitro studies using Franz diffusion cells could be done further to analyze drug permeation rate and calculation of flux. Microneedles could be constructed by using a 3D printing stereolithographic technology, and combining it with a highly appropriate coating method like inkjet printing, which can lead to a high-paced drug delivery microneedle systems via skin.