Designing Multifunctional Microneedles in Biomedical Engineering: Materials, Methods, and Applications

This review focuses on the emerging technology of multifunctional microneedles (MNs) within the biomedical engineering (BME) field, highlighting their potential in drug delivery, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Previous studies have explored MNs in various applications; however, their diverse functionalities across different material types and advanced application domains have been rarely comprehensively explored. This review bridges this gap by providing insights into the application of MNs in materials science, drug delivery, diagnostic monitoring, and tissue engineering. The unique properties and skin effects of various inorganic (eg, silicon, metals) and organic materials (eg, polysaccharides, polymers, proteins) used in MNs are examined. The analysis emphasizes the advantages of different MN materials, ie, their biocompatibility, degradation rates, and application specificity. In addition, the preparation processes and application scenarios of each MN type, such as minimally invasive drug delivery in transdermal applications and their benefits in tissue engineering for promoting repair, regeneration, and precise delivery of cells and growth factors in tissues like skin, cartilage, muscle, bone, and nerves, are discussed. Furthermore, this review explores the innovative use of MNs in brain-computer interfaces-an area not yet thoroughly examined. This novel application offers significant opportunities in neuroscience and clinical practice. Overall, this review provides valuable insights into the current research landscape and unexplored areas of MNs, contributing to future advancements in BME.