Fabricating High-Resolution and High-Dimensional Microneedle Mold through the Resolution Improvement of Stereolithography 3D Printing

Abstract

Microneedles are transdermal drug delivery tools that can be fabricated simply, economically, and rapidly using SLA 3D printing. However, SLA 3D printing has a limitation in that the resolution is slightly lowered when the microneedle is precisely printed. To solve this issue, we optimized the SLA 3D printing conditions such as printing angle, needle height, aspect ratio, and spacing between the microneedles for high-resolution microneedle fabrication. The sharpest microneedle tip was obtained when the printing angle was adjusted to 60° in both the x and y axes. The aspect ratio and the spacing between the microneedles did not affect the output of the sharp tip. Under optimal conditions, the microneedles with 1180 ± 20 µm height, 490 ± 20 µm base, and 30.2 ± 3.4 µm tip diameter were obtained. The dissolving microneedle patch, prepared using the 3D printed microneedle as a mold, penetrated the porcine skin ex vivo. When the printing angle was 60° in the x and y axes, the area of the single stacking layer, including the microneedle tip, increased, and thus the sharp tip could be printed. A high-dimensional, side-notched arrowhead (SNA) microneedle was fabricated by applying the SLA 3D printing condition. Moreover, a letter-type microneedle patch was fabricated using the customized characteristics of 3D printing. Consequently, high-resolution and high-dimensional microneedles were successfully fabricated by adjusting the printing angle using a general SLA 3D printer, and this technology will be applied to the manufacture of drug delivery tools and various microstructures.