Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1-1-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Pharmaceutical Science

First Advisor

Michael Repka

Second Advisor

Eman Ashour

Third Advisor

Walt Chambliss

School

University of Mississippi

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

Transdermal drug delivery enables efficient local and systematic drug delivery while offering advantages such as non-invasiveness, patient compliance, and avoidance of first pass metabolism compared to parenteral administration. Due to strong and the multi-layered structure of the skin creates complex barriers which makes the delivery of therapeutic agents across the skin becomes challenging. Microneedles have been shown to deliver drugs through the transdermal route by penetrating the skin’s protective barrier, stratum corneum (SC) and creating a pathway for drug permeation to the dermal tissue. Traditionally, microneedles were fabricated using various types of materials and process such as casting, injection moulding, micromoulding, pressure moulding. Recently, additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional printing (3DP) has been used for fabrication of MNAs.

The aim of the current study is to do exploratory studies to test the feasibility of developing microneedles using hot melt extrusion (HME) coupled with Fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. Two microneedles using two different polymeric carriers, AquaSolveTM Hydroxymethyl propyl cellulose acetate succinate (HPMC AS LG) (an enteric polymer) and KlucelTM Hydroxy propyl cellulose (HPC EF) (a non-enteric polymer) to form the carrier matrix with Poly ethylene Oxide (PEO N80) as a plasticizing agent and Indomethacin 20% (w/w) as a model drug was used to develop drug loaded microneedles. The resulting physical mixtures was extruded using twin-screw co-rotating 11mmm extruder (Thermo Fischer Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). The filaments obtained from HME were then printed using FDM-3D printer (Ultimaker S3 3-D desktop printer, Geldermalsen, The Netherlands). The formulation is further analyzed for its morphology, mechanical strength, insertion depths, release profile. The application of FDM-based 3D printed for developing microneedles is a novel and versatile manufacturing method for creating personalized drug delivery devices, containing accurate and reproducible doses of medications while providing patient-tailored release profiles.

Concentration/Emphasis

Pharmaceutical Science

Available for download on Friday, February 07, 2025

Share

COinS