A MEMS-Based Drug Delivery Device With Integrated Microneedle Array—Design and Simulation

One of the most effective treatments for type 1 and 2 diabetes is the administration of Insulin. Single needle mechanical insulin pumps are heavy and painful. Microneedle-based MEMS drug delivery devices can be an excellent solution for insulin dosing. The stackable structure provides minimum dimensions and the final product can be in the form of a patch that can be applied to any flat area of human skin. The use of microneedle array provides a safe, painless, and robust injection application. The design of positive volumetric insulin pump is a Multiphysics problem where the volumetric changes of the main pump chamber and the pumped fluid are directly coupled. We use a Multiphysics simulation system to investigate the performance of a MEMS-based insulin micropump with a piezoelectric actuator pumping a viscous Newtonian fluid. The model captures the accumulated out-flow, the netflow, or flow fluctuations based on deflection of piezoelectric diaphragm actuator. Different input voltages and different excitation frequencies cause movement of piezoelectric actuator, which moves the diaphragm disk in positive-negative directions thereby inducing discharge pressures at the microneedle array. In this study, we address various aspects of design and simulation of a MEMS-based piezoelectric insulin micropump including polydimethylsiloxane microvalves and microneedle array. We investigate the micropump performance at human skin interfacial pressure to match minimum to maximum delivery targets/requirements for total range of diabetic patient's expected operating parameters. comsolmultiphysics is used for this study.