Abstract
Worker honeybee pierces animal or human skin with its ultra-sharp stinger and injects venom to defend itself. The insertion behavior is a painless transdermal drug delivery process. In this study, Apis cerana cerana worker honeybee was chosen as the research object. The geometry and structure of the stinger were observed by the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). High-speed video imaging technique was adopted to observe the stinger insertion and pull behavior of honeybee. The skin insertion, pull-out, in-plane buckling and out-of-plane bending forces of honeybee stinger were tested by a self-developed mechanical loading equipment. Results showed that the honeybee stinger pierces directly into skin without frequent vibration. The pull-out force (average 136.04 mN) was two orders of magnitude higher than the penetration force (average 1.34mN). Compared with the penetration force, the in-plane buckling force (average 6.72 mN) was in the same order of magnitude. The result of out-of-plane bending test showed that the stinger was elastic and it could recover after bending. The excellent geometry and structure of honeybee stinger will provide an inspiration for the further improved design of microneedle-based transdermal drug delivery system.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Prausnitz M R. Microneedles for transdermal drug delivery. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2004, 56, 581–587.
Davis S P, Martanto W, Allen M G, Prausnitz M R. Hollow metal microneedles for insulin delivery to diabetic rats. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 2005, 52, 909–915.
Park J-H, Allen M G, Prausnitz M R. Polymer microneedles for controlled-release drug delivery. Pharmaceutical Research, 2006, 23, 1008–1019.
Prausnitz M R, Langer R. Transdermal drug delivery. Nature Biotechnology, 2008, 26, 1261–1268.
Xin Qi, Wei Song, Zhu Mao, Wenran Gao, Qian Cong. Fabrication of a bionic needle with both super-hydrophobic and antibacterial properties. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2013, 10, 377–382.
Henry S, McAllister D V, Allen M G, Prausnitz M R. Microfabricated microneedles: A novel approach to transdermal drug delivery. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1998, 87, 922–925.
Donnelly R F, Singh T R R, Woolfson A D. Microneedle- based drug delivery systems: Microfabrication, drug delivery, and safety. Drug delivery, 2010, 17, 187–207.
Kong X Q, Wu C W. Measurement and prediction of insertion force for the mosquito fascicle penetrating into human skin. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2009, 6, 143–152.
Roxhed N, Gasser T C, Griss P, Holzapfel G A, Stemme G. Penetration-enhanced ultrasharp microneedles and prediction on skin interaction for efficient transdermal drug delivery. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 2007, 16, 1429–1440.
Kong X Q, C W Wu, Mosquito proboscis: An elegant biomicro-electromechanical system. Physical Review E, 2010, 82, 01190
Jaiswal S, Muthuswamy S. Instability analysis of mosquito fascicle under compressive load with vibrations and microneedle design. Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2015, 12, 443–452.
Ma G J, Shi L T, Wu C W. Biomechanical property of a natural microneedle: The caterpillar spine. Journal of Medical Devices-Transactions of the ASME, 2011, 5, 034502.
Cho W K, Ankrum J A, Guo D G, Chester S A, Yang S Y, Kashyap A, Campbell G A, Wood R J, Rijal R K, Karnik R, Langer R, Karp J M. Microstructured barbs on the North American porcupine quill enable easy tissue penetration and difficult removal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012, 109, 21289–21294.
Snodgrass R E. Anatomy of the Honey Bee, Cornell University Press, New York, USA, 1984.
Lariviere W R, Melzack R. The bee venom test: A new tonic-pain test. Pain, 1996, 66, 271–277.
Dade H A. Anatomy and Dissection of the Honeybee, International Bee Research Association, Cardiff, UK, 1994.
Shing H, Erickson E. Some ultrastructure of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) sting. Apidologie, 1982, 13, 203–213.
Odland G F. Structure of the skin. Physiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology of the Skin, 1991, 1, 3–62.
Xu F, Lu T J, Seffen K A. Biothermomechanics of skin tissues. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2008, 56, 1852–1884.
Shergold O A, Fleck N A. Experimental investigation into the deep penetration of soft solids by sharp and blunt punches, with application to the piercing of skin. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 2005, 127, 838–848.
Wu K S, van Osdol W W, Dauskardt R H. Mechanical properties of human stratum corneum: effects of temperature, hydration, and chemical treatment. Biomaterials, 2006, 27, 785–795.
Hendriks F. Mechanical Behaviour of Human Epidermal and Dermal Layers in vivo, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 2005.
Wildnauer R H, Bothwell J W, Douglass A B. Stratum corneum biomechanical properties I. influence of relative humidity on normal and extracted human stratum corneum. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 1971, 56, 72–78.
Mehta A K, Wong F. Measurement of Flammability and Burn Potential of Fabrics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA, 1973.
Gardner T, Briggs G. Biomechanical measurements in microscopically thin stratum corneum using acoustics. Skin Research and Technology, 2001, 7, 254–261.
Kim C H. Biotherapy - History, Principles and Practice, Springer, the Netherlands, 2013.
Yang M, Zahn J. Microneedle Insertion force reduction using vibratory actuation. Biomedical Microdevices, 2004, 6, 177–182.
Izumi H, Suzuki M, Aoyagi S, Kanzaki T. Realistic imitation of mosquito’s proboscis: Electrochemically etched sharp and jagged needles and their cooperative inserting motion. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 2011, 165, 115–123.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ling, J., Jiang, L., Chen, K. et al. Insertion and pull behavior of worker honeybee stinger. J Bionic Eng 13, 303–311 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(16)60303-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(16)60303-7