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Skin and Mucosal Delivery (Focus Group – SMD)

3D-Printed Dissolving Microneedles for Controlled Transdermal Release of Ferulic Acid

Francisca Baptista – Student, Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Cátia Duarte – Student, Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Ana Ruas – PhD Student, Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Joana Duarte – Student, Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Sara Bom – PhD, Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Andreia Barateiro – PostDoc, Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Joana Marto – Assistant Professor, Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Introduction: Dissolving microneedles (MNs) have become promising platforms for transdermal drug delivery, but achieving controlled and predictable release remains a key limitation. Drug release depends not only on geometry but also on the complex interactions between polymer composition, structural integrity, and degradation behavior after skin insertion 1. Additive manufacturing enables precise, rapid fabrication of MNs, creating an opportunity to use formulation-driven structural changes as a design tool to model release. This study explores PEGDA/PVP MNs 2 made by DLP 3D printing to understand how controlled degradation and porosity development influence ferulic acid (FA) release 3.

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will be able to explain how polymer incorporation modulates dissolution and drug release from MNs.
  • Participants will be able to relate structural degradation and porosity evolution to ferulic acid release kinetics.
  • Participants will be able to evaluate additive manufacturing as a strategy to engineer controlled drug release.