Biodegradable Microneedle for Enhanced Transdermal Drug Delivery: Trends and Techniques

The Transdermal Drug Delivery System (TDDS) offers several benefits, such as enhanced patient adherence, controlled release, reduced gastric irritation, and the bypassing of the first-pass metabolism. However, not all drugs can be delivered through this route in effective doses. Biodegradable microneedles (BMn) are designed to improve TDDS. This review outlines various types of BMn and their fabrication methods. BMn are produced in different forms, including hollow, solid, dissolve, and hydrogel-forming versions, which have garnered significant attention. These innovative BMn do not contain drugs themselves but instead absorb interstitial fluid to create continuous channels between the dermal microcirculation and a drug-containing patch. Several types of BMn have been tested and approved by regulatory bodies. The use of BMn technology is rapidly growing in point-of-care applications, attracting significant interest from both researchers and healthcare providers. BMn-based Point-of-care (POC) devices have high efficacy for finding various analytes of clinical interests and transdermal drug administration in a minimally invasive manner owing to BMn' micro-size sharp tips and ease of use. Porous BMn technology may have a very rising future in the case of a vaccine delivery system.