Date of Award

6-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2023

Department

Bioengineering

First Advisor

Maryam Mobed-Miremadi

Abstract

Microneedles are a virtually painless and minimally invasive transdermal delivery system comprised of an array of micron-sized needles that can be used to deliver cells, drugs, proteins, and vaccines. However, a major challenge to this delivery method is controlling puncture depth. To advance the microneedle landscape, our project aims to identify and characterize the biomechanical cues between a microneedle puncture and a hydrogel skin phantom for pre-clinical testing A stopper microneedle design that controlled puncture depth into the phantom skin model patch to 150μm was tested on millimeter-thick mold-casted alginate slabs. The hysteresis loop differs in the presence and absence of the stopper resulting in a quantifiable puncture signature.

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