Proceedings of the
World Congress on Micro and Nano Manufacturing (WCMNM 2022 )
19–22 September 2022, Lueven, Belgium
doi:10.3850/978-981-18-5180-3_RP51-0063
Fabrication of Titanium Microneedle Probes using Micromachining
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
2Stoparkinson Healthcare Systems, LLC, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, USA
3Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, Otago, 9016, New Zealand
4Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
5Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
ABSTRACT
Microneedle-based biomedical devices have been used for cortical and peripheral stimulation of the nervous system, including transcutaneous electrical stimulation. In this paper, we demonstrate the micromilling-based fabrication of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) microneedle probes for auricular stimulation of the peripheral nervous system. A ferromagnetic component is assembled onto the back of the needles to enable easily attaching or detaching the electrical components from the implanted probes. The development of the microfabrication approach and a high aspect ratio microneedle design are presented. Fabricated microneedle designs have 200 µm width and 2 mm height with a tip taper angle of 30°. A selection of micromachining parameters is used to achieve a sharp tip radius and dimensional accuracy while minimizing the burr formation. An acid-etching method for the removal of remaining burrs is also explored. As a result, we demonstrated the accurate and reproducible fabrication of high-aspect-ratio titanium microprobes for neural stimulation.
Keywords: Micromachining, Microelectromechanical Devices, Micromilling, Biomedical Engineering, Micromachining Titanium.
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
2Stoparkinson Healthcare Systems, LLC, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, USA
3Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, Otago, 9016, New Zealand
4Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
5Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
ABSTRACT
Microneedle-based biomedical devices have been used for cortical and peripheral stimulation of the nervous system, including transcutaneous electrical stimulation. In this paper, we demonstrate the micromilling-based fabrication of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) microneedle probes for auricular stimulation of the peripheral nervous system. A ferromagnetic component is assembled onto the back of the needles to enable easily attaching or detaching the electrical components from the implanted probes. The development of the microfabrication approach and a high aspect ratio microneedle design are presented. Fabricated microneedle designs have 200 µm width and 2 mm height with a tip taper angle of 30°. A selection of micromachining parameters is used to achieve a sharp tip radius and dimensional accuracy while minimizing the burr formation. An acid-etching method for the removal of remaining burrs is also explored. As a result, we demonstrated the accurate and reproducible fabrication of high-aspect-ratio titanium microprobes for neural stimulation.
Keywords: Micromachining, Microelectromechanical Devices, Micromilling, Biomedical Engineering, Micromachining Titanium.
