Microneedle fiber array for subsurface light delivery in skin
This technology consists of tiny glass needles — thinner than a human hair — that are attached to optical fibers and designed to physically penetrate the skin to deliver laser or other light-based treatments directly to tissue beneath the surface. Unlike conventional light-based skin therapies that struggle to reach deeper layers because skin scatters and absorbs light, these microneedles guide light precisely to a target depth. The device can be used for both treatment (such as laser-based destruction of unwanted tissue or targeted heating) and diagnosis (using light to detect tissue properties below the skin). A support structure and compressible ferrule system protect the fragile needles during use and insertion.
What you could build
A disposable or reusable microneedle patch or handpiece attachment for existing dermatology and aesthetics laser systems that enables depth-targeted photothermal treatments — such as wrinkle reduction, scar treatment, or subsurface lesion ablation — purchased by dermatology clinics, medical aesthetics device OEMs, and potentially oncology or wound-care device companies.
Who in Virginia should care
Medical device companies and research hospitals in the Northern Virginia/DC corridor, or university-affiliated med-tech spinouts, would be plausible partners or licensees.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Christopher Rylander, Thomas A. Campbell, Ge Wang, Yong Xu, Mehmet Alpaslan Kosoglu
- Granted
- August 5, 2014
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 8798722
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.