Microneedles and Nanotechnology: Exploring their Interrelationship in a Patent Review

Microneedle systems are a promising category of devices used for various applications, such as drug delivery and diagnostics, offering benefits, including but not limited to, painless administration and improved patient experience and compliance. When combined with nanotechnology, these systems can offer improved therapeutic performance.

This article analyzed the patent landscape related to technologies combining microneedles and nanotechnology. Patent documents were retrieved from the Espacenet database up to 2024. After applying predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 932 patents were selected from an initial set of 1,368 documents. The patents were categorized according to application field, publication year, country, origin of the invention (academic, industrial, independent, or other), type of nanotechnology used, and target substance.

The results revealed an increasing global patent activity related to the integration of microneedles and nanotechnology. The patents covered diverse therapeutic and preventive applications and demonstrated the incorporation of multiple nanosystems, microneedle formats, and bioactive compounds.

It is notable that this technological association has a multidisciplinary nature and is increasingly relevant to drug delivery innovation. The diversity of approaches reflects the potential of combining nanotechnology with microneedle systems to address different challenges in a wide number of health-related fields.

Overall, the patent landscape indicates a growing global interest in microneedlenanotechnology integration. The findings may support technological assessment, research planning, and the identification of collaboration opportunities between academia and industry.