Microinjection molding (μIM) has emerged as one of the important manufacturing technologies for producing high‐precision polymer‐based microcomponents for biomedical applications, driven by the growing demands for the miniaturized, complex, and biocompatible devices. Microinjection molding could serve as an exceptional processing platform for the fabrication of high‐performance biomedical microdevices. The essentially ultra‐high shear stress field of microinjection molding could enable polymer materials to possess unique crystallization and morphology structures, thereby demonstrating the outstanding mechanical properties and functionality. However, the challenges lie in how to balance the material biocompatibility, mechanical stability, and controlled degradability, as well as how to optimize the process parameters to mitigate defects like short shots and warpage. The high cost and complexity of micromold fabrication may further restrict the widespread application of this μIM technology. This review comprehensively examines the recent advances in μIM technology of polymer materials, particularly focusing on its applications in biomedical fields. The analysis and discussions mainly encompass the development in equipment, process optimization, material selection, and biomedical microdevice manufacturing related to μIM, which will address the challenges faced by the device miniaturization in traditional injection molding while ensuring structural fidelity, mechanical integrity, and biocompatibility.
Zhou et al. (Fri,) studied this question.