Steel vs silicon

Uneedle's products are designed to provide perpendicular superficial injection at a well defined depth. For this the needle needs to have a precise short length and also a very short bevel (length of the opening). Obviously the needle also needs to be very sharp.

For conventional steel needles, sharpened using grinding and polishing techniques, there is a trade-off between sharpness and bevel length. It is therefore impossible to make a sharp steel needle with a short bevel.

Extremely sharp

Uneedle's proprietary technology overcomes this challenge by making use of the crystal planes of silicon to define the needle shape. The needles are formed with well established semiconductor etching processes and no grinding or polishing is required. The cutting edges of the needle tip are defined by the intersection of two crystal planes and therefore always perfectly 'atom sharp' regardless of the bevel angle and length. The Uneedle technology thus enables sharp needles with an ultra short bevel.

The exceptional material and manufacturing properties of silicon furthermore bring the following benefits: 

• a very hard needle material, so no needle wear and multiple use possible

• a very smooth needle surface, so no silicone lubricant needed

• a very clean needle manufacturing (no grinding induced particles)