Injection system based on silicon oxide microneedles

This work presents a novel injection system based on silicon oxide microneedles. Microneedles fabricated in this work are hollow microcapillaries whose length ranges from tens to hundreds of microns and their tip diameter is in the range of micrometers. Structures based on microneedles are of increasing interest in medical and biological applications, specially for injection and manipulation. Fabrication process of the microneedles is based on electrochemical etching of n-type silicon in hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution. Combining porous silicon technology with traditional micromachining technology, an injection system can be obtained. The fabrication steps both of macroporous silicon and the injection system are described.