SkinPen

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SkinPen

The SkinPen® is a micro-needling device used to improve the appearance of facial acne scars by stimulating the body’s natural wound-healing process, while minimizing cellular damage.

After a number of other mechanical engineers were not able to resolve a series of engineering challenges, Miro was brought in to tackle the project. His design engineer services assignment was to redesign the device’s cartridge.

Miro’s elegant design addressed all of the design requirements: The cartridge had to be economical to produce and impossible to reuse. Furthermore, the practitioner had to be able to adjust the needling depth while providing treatment, but without the possibility of unscrewing the needle depth adjuster (i.e. the transparent part in the image above) from the cartridge.

Background – The client had a medical device called the SkinPen®, which is a Micro-needling device used by licensed healthcare practitioners to improve the appearance of facial acne scars by stimulating the body’s natural wound-healing process while minimizing cellular damage. It was a great idea, but the first version of the product simply did not work well and the company decided to design a brand new device.

After a number of other engineers were unable to resolve the device’s engineering challenges, Miro was brought in to tackle this invention design project. For this assignment Miro was tasked with creating a new cartridge design.

Engineering Challenges – There were three main design requirements associated with this project, each of which created challenges:
  • It had to be disposable, and therefore cost effective.
  • It had to be limited to a single use. To ensure sterility of the cartridge, once it has been used and detached, the cartridge can no longer be re-attached.
  • The adjustable penetration depth presented an additional challenge: The Cartridge shell could not be unscrewed entirely.
Solutions – Miro’s out-of-the-box thinking resulted in solutions that others had not considered:
  • Production – Thanks to his extensive knowledge of injection molding, Miro was able to create a design that could be economical for mass production.
  • Reusability – Miro’s imaginative solution created a lock-out feature. Once the cartridge is removed from the handle, his mechanism ensured that the cartridge would not re-attach.
  • Adjustability – By turning the needle depth adjuster the user is able to easily adjust the penetration depth without the threaded housing being able to get unscrewed entirely. Depth markers printed on the housing let you know the exact depth, and a clicking sound provides auditory feedback that the adjustment is taking place.  
Industry Recognition – Backed by Miro’s mechanical engineering expertise, (or: innovative engineering solutions) SkinPen became the first FDA-approved Micro-needling device. In the U.S. the SkinPen won The Aesthetic Industry Award for “Best Micro-needling Device 2017,” and in the United Kingdom’s Aesthetics Awards it won the Barry Knapp Award for 2018 Product Innovation of the Year.
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