Patent ID: 7258805

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a micro-needle protruding from a support body, said needle comprising a body portion, a closed pointed tip portion, and an inner lumen extending through said support body and into said protruding needle, said body portion having side openings communicating with said inner lumen, the method comprising the following steps: providing a wafer comprised of an etchable material and having a front side and a back side; making a blind hole in said wafer from its back side; providing a mask on the front side of the wafer such that the vertical projection of said mask at least partially covers the extension of said hole; performing a first isotropic etch under said mask to remove wafer material; anisotropically etching the wafer to form a protruding structure; and optionally performing a second isotropic etch on said protruding structure to expose the blind hole; wherein the position and extension of the mask relative the position and dimension of the hole is such that said side openings form during either said anisotropic etch or said second isotropic etch.