Journal
CIRP JOURNAL OF MANUFACTURING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Volume 32, Issue -, Pages 311-321Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.cirpj.2021.01.015
Keywords
Microneedle arrays; Micro-injection molding; Laser micro-machining; Process monitoring; Data acquisition; Polymer replication
Categories
Funding
- Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation [674801]
- Horizon 2020 project: HIMALAIA [766871]
- Horizon 2020 project: Laser4Fun [675063]
- H2020 Societal Challenges Programme [766871] Funding Source: H2020 Societal Challenges Programme
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This study presents a flexible and cost-effective process chain for manufacturing transdermal microneedle arrays, including laser machining for mould production and micro-injection moulding for replication of thermoplastic microneedles. The process chain features in-line manufacturing data monitoring capability and a quality inspection system, making it suitable for large-scale production.
High-throughput manufacturing of transdermal microneedle arrays poses a significant challenge due to the high precision and number of features that need to be produced and the requirement of multi-step processing methods for achieving challenging micro-features. To address this challenge, we report a flexible and cost-effective process chain for transdermal microneedle array manufacture that includes mould production using laser machining and replication of thermoplastic microneedles via micro-injection moulding (micromoulding). The process chain also incorporates an in-line manufacturing data monitoring capability where the variability in the quality of microneedle arrays can be determined in a production run using captured data. Optical imaging and machine vision technologies are also implemented to create a quality inspection system that allows rapid evaluation of key quality indicators. The work presents the capability of laser machining as a cost-effective method for making microneedle moulds and micro-injection moulding of thermoplastic microneedle arrays as a highly-suitable manufacturing technique for large-scale production with low marginal cost. (C) 2021 CIRP.
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