Micro- and nanofabrication methods in nanotechnological medical and pharmaceutical devices

Tania Betancourt, Lisa Brannon-Peppas

Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA

Abstract: Micro- and nanofabrication techniques have revolutionized the pharmaceutical and medical fields as they offer the possibility for highly reproducible mass-fabrication of systems with complex geometries and functionalities, including novel drug delivery systems and bionsensors. The principal micro- and nanofabrication techniques are described, including photolithography, soft lithography, film deposition, etching, bonding, molecular self assembly, electrically induced nanopatterning, rapid prototyping, and electron, X-ray, colloidal monolayer, and focused ion beam lithography. Application of these techniques for the fabrication of drug delivery and biosensing systems including injectable, implantable, transdermal, and mucoadhesive devices is described.

Keywords: microfabrication, nanofabrication, medical devices, drug delivery, biosensors