MICRONEEDLES IN TRANSDERMAL DRUG DELIVERY: AN UNIQUE PAINLESS OPTION

Abstract

The outermost layer of skin, the stratum corneum, has developed unnerving physical and immunological barrier properties that prevent infiltration of noxious chemicals and pathogens. Consequently, transdermal delivery of medicaments is currently restricted to a limited number of low molecular weight drugs to enter the skin at successful therapeutic rates. As a result, there has been significant recent interest in providing strategies that disrupt or dodge the principal physical barrier, the stratum corneum, for the efficient cutaneous delivery of macromolecular and nucleic acid based therapeutics. Recently, the use of micron-scale needles in increasing skin permeability has been proposed and shown to dramatically increase transdermal delivery, especially for macromolecules. Using the tools of the microelectronics industry, micro-needles have been fabricated with a wide range of sizes, shapes and materials. These strategies include: Micro-needles, Macroflux ®. A micro-needle-based drug delivery system is pain free administration, easy to use, discrete, continuous and controlled release system. This review compile the current advancement and literature regarding the fabricated micro-needles used for enhancing Transdermal Drug Delivery System and other structure based techniques.