Method to fabricate hollow microneedle arrays
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method to fabricate a hollow microneedle array, comprising:
- exposing a photoetchable glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a first patterned mask to define a latent image of a bore of at least one hollow microneedle in the glass wafer;
heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the bore of the at least one microneedle to a crystalline material, thereby providing a crystallized image of the bore of the at least one microneedle in the glass wafer;
exposing the glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a second patterned mask to define a latent image of the regions between the at least one hollow microneedle, wherein the exposing to define the between regions is performed before or after the exposing to define the bore;
heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the between regions to a crystalline material, thereby providing an crystallized image of the between regions in the glass wafer; and
etching the glass wafer in an etchant to remove the crystallized image regions, thereby providing a glass hollow microneedle array comprising the at least one hollow microneedle.
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Abstract
An inexpensive and rapid method for fabricating arrays of hollow microneedles uses a photoetchable glass. Furthermore, the glass hollow microneedle array can be used to form a negative mold for replicating microneedles in biocompatible polymers or metals. These microneedle arrays can be used to extract fluids from plants or animals. Glucose transport through these hollow microneedles arrays has been found to be orders of magnitude more rapid than natural diffusion.
107 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method to fabricate a hollow microneedle array, comprising:
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exposing a photoetchable glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a first patterned mask to define a latent image of a bore of at least one hollow microneedle in the glass wafer; heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the bore of the at least one microneedle to a crystalline material, thereby providing a crystallized image of the bore of the at least one microneedle in the glass wafer; exposing the glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a second patterned mask to define a latent image of the regions between the at least one hollow microneedle, wherein the exposing to define the between regions is performed before or after the exposing to define the bore; heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the between regions to a crystalline material, thereby providing an crystallized image of the between regions in the glass wafer; and etching the glass wafer in an etchant to remove the crystallized image regions, thereby providing a glass hollow microneedle array comprising the at least one hollow microneedle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method to fabricate a hollow microneedle array, comprising:
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exposing a photoetchable glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a first patterned mask to define a latent image of the regions between at least one hollow microneedle in the glass wafer; exposing the glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a second patterned mask to define a latent image of a bore of the at least one hollow microneedle, heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the between regions and the bore of the at least one microneedle to a crystalline material, thereby providing a crystallized image of the between regions and the bore of the at least one microneedle in the glass wafer; and etching the glass wafer in an etchant to remove the crystallized image regions, thereby providing a glass hollow microneedle array comprising the at least one hollow microneedle. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method to fabricate a hollow microneedle array, comprising:
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forming a glass negative mold of the hollow microneedle array, the mold forming comprising; exposing a photoetchable glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a first patterned mask to define a latent image of the regions between at least one hollow microneedle in the glass wafer, heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the between regions to a crystalline material, thereby providing a crystallized image of the between regions in the glass wafer, exposing the glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a second patterned mask to define a latent image of the wall regions of the at least one hollow microneedle, wherein the exposing to define the wall regions is performed before or after the exposing to define the between regions, heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the wall regions to a crystalline material, thereby providing an crystallized image of the wall regions in the glass wafer, and etching the glass wafer in an etchant to remove the crystallized image regions, thereby providing a glass negative, molding a structural material into the glass negative mold; and removing the glass negative mold to provide a microneedle array comprising the at least one hollow microneedle of the structural material. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method to fabricate a hollow microneedle array, comprising:
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forming a glass negative mold of the hollow microneedle array, the mold forming comprising; exposing a photoetchable glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a first patterned mask to define a latent image of the regions between at least one hollow microneedle in the glass wafer, exposing the glass wafer to ultraviolet light through a second patterned mask to define a latent image of the wall regions of the at least one hollow microneedle, heating the glass wafer to a temperature in excess of the glass transformation temperature to transform the amorphous material in the exposed latent image of the between regions and the wall regions to a crystalline material, thereby providing crystallized images of the between regions and the wall regions in the glass wafer, and etching the glass wafer in an etchant to remove the crystallized image regions, thereby providing a glass negative, molding a structural material into the glass negative mold; and removing the glass negative mold to provide a microneedle array comprising the at least one hollow microneedle of the structural material. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification