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Lookup NU author(s): Emma Hutchinson, Dr Wing Man LauORCiD, Dr Tarek Abdelghany, Professor Katarina NovakovicORCiD, Dr Keng Wooi NgORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
We report a simple and reproducible micromoulding technique that dynamically fills microneedle moulds with a liquid formulation, using a plastic syringe, triggered by the application of vacuum (‘vac-and-fill’). As pressure around the syringe drops, air inside the syringe pushes the plunger to uncover an opening in the syringe and fill the microneedle mould without manual intervention, therefore removing inter-operator variability. The technique was validated by monitoring the plunger movement and pressure at which the mould would be filled over 10 vacuum cycles for various liquid formulation of varying viscosity (water, glycerol, 20% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solution or 40% PVP solution). Additionally, the impact of re-using the disposable syringes on plunger movement, and thus the fill pressure, was investigated using a 20% PVP solution. The fill pressure was consistent at 300–450 mbar. It produced well-formed and mechanically robust PVP, poly(methylvinylether/maleic anhydride) and hydroxyethylcellulose microneedles from liquid formulations. This simple and inexpensive technique of micromoulding eliminated the air entrapment and bubble formation, which prevent reproducible microneedle formation, in the resultant microneedle arrays. It provides a cost-effective alternative to the conventional micromoulding techniques, where the application of vacuum (‘fill-and-vac’) or centrifugation following mould-filling may be unsuitable, ineffective or have poor reproducibility.
Author(s): Smith E, Lau WM, Abdelghany TM, Vokajlovic D, Novakovic K, Ng KW
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: International Journal of Pharmaceutics
Year: 2024
Volume: 650
Print publication date: 25/01/2024
Online publication date: 14/12/2023
Acceptance date: 12/12/2023
Date deposited: 21/12/2023
ISSN (print): 0378-5173
ISSN (electronic): 1873-3476
Publisher: Elsevier BV
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123706
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123706
PubMed id: 38103704
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