From: A Review of Nano/Micro/Milli Needles Fabrications for Biomedical Engineering
Methods | Fabrication illustrations | SEM images | Materials | Advantages | Typical limitations | Typical applications |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Typical 3D printing | ||||||
Stereolithography | Solid microneedles | Photo curable polymer | High efficiency, high repeatability, high flexibility | Poor surface quality, rough surface, large tip radius | Transdermal drug delivery | |
Digital light processing | Bioinspired microneedles | Photo curable polymer | Complex 3D structure, high flexibility, non-contact machining | Rough surface, limited materials, | Transdermal drug delivery, fog harvest | |
Drawing method | ||||||
Thermal drawing | Solid microneedles | SU-8, PLGA, Maltose | High aspect ratio, high efficiency, maskless | Low repeatability, limited materials, high temperature | Bio-electrode, brain-computer interface | |
Magnetorheological drawing | Bioinspired microneedles | Curable magnetorheological fluid | One-step fabrication, maskless, high flexibility | Low biocompatibility, limited material | Transdermal drug delivery, bio-electrode, bio-sensing |