Patent attributes
A medical device for delivering a drug compound through a stratum corneum includes a support having an aperture, an array of microneedles extending outwardly from the support, a plurality of nanostructures associated with each microneedle, and a reservoir wherein the drug compound is retained. At least one microneedle contains a shaft extending from the support. The shaft includes a tip configured to penetrate the stratum corneum. The shaft defines a channel extending from the support to the tip. The channel is in at least partial alignment with the aperture. At least some of the microneedles of the array of microneedles each have a cross-sectional dimension of from about 1 micrometer to about 1 millimeter. At least some of the nanostructures have a cross-sectional dimension less than about 500 nanometers and greater than about 5 nanometers and an aspect ratio of from about 0.2 to about 5.
