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Polymeric Microneedle Array Fabrication by Photolithography

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Optical lens-microneedle array for percutaneous light delivery.

Moonseok Kim¹, Jeesoo An², Ki Su Kim²

¹Harvard Medical School and Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Physics, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, South Korea; These authors contributed equally.

Biomedical Optics Express

|November 22, 2016

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This summary is machine-generated.

A novel optical microneedle array (OMNA) significantly enhances light delivery into skin tissues. This breakthrough is expected to improve the effectiveness of light-based dermatologic therapies like antimicrobial blue light therapy.

Area of Science:

Biomedical Engineering
Dermatology
Optical Physics

Background:

Limited light penetration depth hinders dermatologic light therapies.
Current methods struggle to deliver therapeutic light effectively into deeper skin layers.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a novel optical microneedle array (OMNA) for improved percutaneous light delivery.
To overcome the penetration depth limitations of light in skin tissues for therapeutic applications.

Main Methods:

Fabrication of an 11x11 array of poly-(lactic acid) microneedles (1.6 mm length, 1 mm spacing).
Integration of a matched microlens array for focused light delivery through needle tips.
In vitro experiments using bovine tissues to quantify light delivery efficiency at 491 nm.

Keywords:

(160.1435) Biomaterials (170.0170) Medical optics and biotechnology (170.3660) Light propagation in tissues (170.5180) Photodynamic therapy (230.0230) Optical devices

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Main Results:

The OMNA device achieved a 9-fold enhancement in light delivery compared to no device (7.5% vs. 0.85% input photons).
Experimental results closely matched ray-tracing simulations predicting a 10.8 dB enhancement.
Predicted increase in effective treatment depth for antimicrobial blue light therapy from 1.3 mm to 2.5 mm.

Conclusions:

The optical microneedle array (OMNA) offers a significant improvement in light delivery for dermatologic applications.
OMNA technology has the potential to substantially increase the therapeutic efficacy and depth of light-induced treatments in skin.