A BRIEF OVERVIEW ON MICRONEEDLES

Transdermal drug delivery carried out a promising carrier in the transport of drugs to get direct access across the skin deep into the systemic circulation. Transdermal drug delivery has a number of advantages including improved patient compliance, sustained release, avoidance of gastric irritation, as well as elimination of pre-systemic first-pass effect. It gives attraction to many researchers due to various biomedical advantages. Due to the limitation of oral drug delivery system and the pain related with the use of needles in case of injections, drug delivery research has tremendously oriented towards the transdermal route. The objective of the present review is to focus on newly innovations in transdermal drug delivery systems which can create a platform for the research and development of pharmaceutical drug dosage form for efficient transdermal delivery. In this review, we tell about different types of microneedles are described and their methods of fabrication. Microneedles can be fabricated in different forms like hollow, solid, and dissolving. There are also hydrogel-forming microneedles. In relation to hydrogel-forming microneedles, special attention, these are innovative microneedles which does not contain drugs but imbibe interstitial fluid to form continuous conduits between dermal microcirculation and an attached patch-type reservoir. Regulatory authorities approved several microneedles for clinical uses are also examined. The last part of this review discusses concerns and challenges regarding microneedles use.

Key words: transdermal drug delivery, microneedles, patient compliance, avoid first pass effect.