US 11,717,660 B2
Silicon microneedle structure and production method
Gal Admati, Kibbutz Dorot (IL); Yotam Levin, Ness Ziona (IL); and Yoav Hamisha, Mazkeret Batya (IL)
Assigned to NANOPASS TECHNOLOGIES LTD., Ness Ziona (IL)
Filed by NanoPass Technologies Ltd., Ness Ziona (IL)
Filed on Jul. 29, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/388,215.
Prior Publication US 2023/0035272 A1, Feb. 2, 2023
Int. Cl. A61M 37/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 37/0015 (2013.01) [A61M 2037/003 (2013.01); A61M 2037/0053 (2013.01); A61M 2037/0061 (2013.01); A61M 2207/00 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A microneedle structure formed from a single crystal of silicon, the microneedle structure comprising:
(a) a substrate having a major surface;
(b) at least one microneedle integrally formed with said substrate so as to project from said major surface, said at least one microneedle comprising:
(i) a penetrating tip formed at an intersection between at least one upright surface perpendicular to said major surface of said substrate and a planar inclined surface corresponding to a (1 1 1) crystallographic plane,
(ii) an expanding portion bounded by a continuation of said at least one upright surface and said inclined surface, and
(iii) a constant cross-section portion bounded by a continuation of said at least one upright surface and a slicing plane extending from an edge of said inclined surface towards, and perpendicular to, said major surface of said substrate,
wherein a width of said inclined surface increases monotonically from said penetrating tip to said edge,
and wherein said slicing plane is also an edge of said substrate.