Cell therapy using an array of ultrathin hollow microneedles

Florina Silvia Iliescu, Jeremy Choon Meng Teo, Danilo Vrtacnik, Hayden Taylor, Ciprian Iliescu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Cell transplantation traditionally employs needles to inject donor cells into tissues to treat certain diseases. However, it is difficult for the current method to achieve multiple parallel equidistant injections, which are ideal for cell therapy. This paper presents a new cell transplantation method using an array of ultrathin microneedles. The main characteristic of the needles is their high aspect ratio: each needle is 500 μm long, and has a 50 μm diameter and a very thin wall (2 μm-thick SiO2 and 1.5 μm-thick Si3N4). An array of such microneedles was successfully used to inject fluorescently labeled Mardin–Darby canine kidney cells into rat liver tissue. Viability of the cells inserted using this method was verified after 5 days. Preliminary results show that this type of microneedle array can be used for cell therapy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2905-2912
Number of pages8
JournalMicrosystem Technologies
Volume24
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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