title: Current advances in the fabrication of microneedles for transdermal delivery.
abstract: The transdermal route is an excellent site for drug delivery due to the avoidance of gastric degradation and hepatic metabolism, in addition to easy accessibility. Although offering numerous attractive advantages, many available transdermal systems are not able to deliver drugs and other compounds as desired. The use of hypodermic needles, associated with phobia, pain and accidental needle-sticks has been used to overcome the delivery limitation of macromolecular compounds. The means to overcome the disadvantages of hypodermic needles has led to the development of microneedles for transdermal delivery. However, since the initial stages of microneedle fabrication, recent research has been conducted integrating various fabrication techniques for generating sophisticated microneedle devices for transdermal delivery including progress on their commercialization. A concerted effort has been made within this review to highlight the current advances of microneedles, and to provide an update of pharmaceutical research in the field of microneedle-assisted transdermal drug delivery systems.
authors.affiliation: Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
authors.forename: Sunaina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Indermun
authors.affiliation: MESA+Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede 7500AE, The Netherlands; MyLife Technologies BV, Enschede 7500AE, The Netherlands; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Microsystems Group and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS), Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven 5600MB, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luttge
authors.affiliation: Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
authors.forename: Yahya E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Choonara
authors.affiliation: Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
authors.forename: Lisa C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: du Toit
authors.affiliation: Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, South Africa; Department of Neurology, Division of Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Girish
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Modi
authors.affiliation: Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, South Africa. Electronic address: viness.pillay@wits.ac.za.
authors.forename: Viness
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pillay
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008845:Microinjections / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009339:Needles; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
keywords: Hypodermic; Microneedle; Microscale fabrication techniques