Micro Needle Patches in Drug Delivery – a Review

Drugs are administered by using different drug delivery systems. A number of drug delivery systems have evolved over the years. In the last 20 years TDDS (Transdermal drug delivery system) has been growing at a rapid pace. Now the micro needles are being developed as a novel drug delivery system. The micro needle skin patch system is also a drug delivery system, which will be used transdermally. The success of TDD has severely limited by the inability of most drugs to enter the skin at therapeutical useful rates. Thus, the use of micro-needle patches in increasing skin permeability has been proposed and shown to dramatically increase in transdermal delivery, especially for macromolecules. Using the tools of the microelectronics industry, microneedles have been fabricated with a range of sizes, shapes and materials. Most drug delivery studies have emphasized microneedles, which have been shown to increase the skin permeability to a broad range of molecules and nanoparticles invitro. This review briefly deals with types, mode of drug delivery, coating and applications of microneedle patches. Overall the microneedle skin patches are prone to be a very versatile drug delivery technology, allowing easy and reproducible delivery to skin.