Provides comprehensive coverage of microneedles for delivering and monitoring patient drugs and vaccines

Microneedles are an incredibly active research area and have the potential to revolutionize the way many medicines and vaccines are delivered. This comprehensive research book covers the major aspects relating to the use of microneedle arrays in enhancing both transdermal and intradermal drug delivery and provides a sound background to the use of microneedle arrays in enhanced delivery applications.

Beginning with a history of the field and the various methods employed to produce microneedles from different materials, Microneedles for Drug and Vaccine Delivery and Patient Monitoring discusses the penetration of the stratum corneum by microneedles and the importance of application method and force and microneedle geometry (height, shape, inter-needle spacing). Transdermal and intradermal delivery research using microneedles is comprehensively and critically reviewed, focusing on the outcomes of in vivo animal and human studies. The book describes the important topics of safety and patient acceptability studies carried out to date. It also covers in detail the growing area for microneedle use in the monitoring of interstitial fluid contents. Finally, it reviews translational and regulatory developments in the microneedles field and describes the work ongoing in industry.

The only book currently available on microneedles
Filled with tables, graphs, and black and white images (photographs, micrographs)
Authored by four experts in pharmaceutics

Microneedles for Drug and Vaccine Delivery and Patient Monitoring is an ideal source for researchers in industry and academia working on drug delivery and transdermal delivery in particular, as well as for advanced students in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences.

About the Author

Ryan F. Donnelly, PhD, holds the Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology in the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast and is a registered Pharmacist.

Raj Singh Thakur, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics in the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast.

Eneko Larrañeta, PhD, is Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast.

Maelíosa Mc Crudden, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast.