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Twice Stretched Fabrication of Polylactic Acid Microneedle Arrays Using Drawing Lithography

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Abstract

A biodegradable poly-lactic acid (PLA) microneedle array composed of needles with a maximum length of 3 mm and an aspect ratio of up to approximately 18 was fabricated by drawing lithography. In the proposed fabrication method, the melted polymer is stretched twice. The approximate length is set in the first stretch, and the tip is sharpened in the second stretch. In the first stretch, by changing the thickness of the PLA sheet, PLA pillars with various lengths are fabricated. By defining the initial length of the needle, it is possible to set a wide range of aspect ratios and lengths. In the second stretch, it is possible to control the final aspect ratio and length of the needle, as well as the shape of its tip by changing the temperature and stretch speed of the PLA pillars. Finally, it was confirmed that the needle can pierce the surface of artificial skin and porcine skin.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by KAKENHI (18H01415) from JSPS (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science). This work was supported in part by a Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities “Creation of 3D nano-micro structures and its application to biomimetics and medicine” from MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan), 2015–2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kansai University, Yamate-cho, Suita, Osaka, 564-8680, Japan

    Shingo Terashima, Chikako Tatsukawa, Masato Suzuki, Tomokazu Takahashi & Seiji Aoyagi

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  1. Shingo Terashima
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  2. Chikako Tatsukawa
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  3. Masato Suzuki
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  4. Tomokazu Takahashi
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  5. Seiji Aoyagi
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Correspondence to Shingo Terashima.

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Terashima, S., Tatsukawa, C., Suzuki, M. et al. Twice Stretched Fabrication of Polylactic Acid Microneedle Arrays Using Drawing Lithography. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 21, 1933–1942 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-020-00380-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-020-00380-2

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