Fabrication of Sharp Tip-Separable Microneedle Device for Trans-Dermal Drug Delivery Systems

An alignment mechanism for producing a sharp tip-separable microneedle device for trans-dermal drug delivery systems has been developed. The needle and base parts were placed on a mechanical precision motion stage to align their central axes. The overlapping region between them in the height direction was controlled by inserting a thickness gauge between them. A 400-μm-high sharp tip-separable microneedle device was successfully produced by using the developed alignment mechanism with an accuracy of less than 19 μm. We also demonstrated that it can be used to produce an arrayed tip-separable microneedle device.