Technologies

Microneedles of various heights often fail to pierce skin or other biological surfaces due to the soft underlying tissue structure and elastic nature of skin. If microneedles are made longer, but of the same diameter, they tend to buckle at pressures less than that required to pierce the desired surface. Although a standard metal hypodermic needle is quite effective in piercing the skin and accessing the tissue and blood vessels beneath it, using such a needle with a silicon microchip would prove challenging due to the disparity in size. In addition, many of these needles also feature hollow tips which have the tendency to clog over time.

A minimally invasive method for sampling biological fluids has been developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Continuous interstitial fluid (ISF) sampling and measurement of ISF specific metabolic and immunological biomolecules is possible without the pain or tissue damage associated with conventional transdermal sampling methods. The design utilizes novel microtechnology in conjunction with an interface that obviates obstruction from skin and enables high viscosity fluids normally not amenable to capillary force to be sampled.

This development revisits the hollow point needle design and introduces an improved microneedle design and delivery system through which we are able to attain improved sampling of substances of interest and the delivery of drugs or other substances through surface (skin, outer layer of a plant, animal, organ, etc.).

Research conducted at the University of California, Davis has led to an improved method and apparatus for puncturing a surface for extraction, in situ monitoring, and substance delivery.