Micro-Point, Microdart or Microneedle: What the Names Mean
"Micro-point", "microdart" and "microneedle" are used as if they were the same thing. They usually describe two different constructions, and the difference shows up in what the patch can deliver, how it feels and what it costs.
The confusion is not academic. Two quotes can differ by a multiple while both are described as "microdart", because one is a dissolving array and the other is a textured film. Knowing which you are buying is the first step of the specification.
Two constructions, three names
The verification that settles it in one question: do the points dissolve, and is the active inside them? A dissolving array loses its points over wear time. A textured film does not change.
Why the names diverged
Partly marketing — "microdart" tests better than "microneedle" with consumers who associate needles with pain. Partly patents and translation, as the same technology arrived in different markets under different trade names. The result is a category where the label describes the marketing position rather than the construction.
That is a problem for buyers comparing quotes. Two suppliers can both say "microdart" and be quoting a moulded array and an embossed film, where the tooling cost, the minimum and the delivered dose are not comparable at all.
What to ask, in order
- Construction: moulded array or embossed film?
- Dissolution: do the points dissolve, and over what wear time?
- Active location: in the array, in a coating, or only on the backing?
- Geometry: dart count, length, base diameter.
- Dose per patch, with a tolerance.
If a supplier cannot answer the first three without a call, they are selling a format rather than a specification — which may still be fine, but you should know which conversation you are in.
Why it matters commercially
The construction decides the claim. A dissolving array that carries an active is a delivery product; an embossed film is a cover with a texture. The first needs formulation and stability work; the second needs neither, and costs a fraction. Selling the second as the first is where returns come from.
It also decides the packaging: a water-soluble array is humidity-sensitive and needs a barrier pouch, while a film is far more tolerant. That is a real cost difference per unit, invisible in a quote that only lists patch price.
For the manufacturing route behind a dissolving array, see moulding, filling and dose control.
Send the name your supplier used and a photo of the patch and we will tell you which construction it is, and whether the price you were quoted matches that construction.
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