New 3D Microfluidic Device for Producing Liposomes to Improve Drug Deliver Methods
 

New 3D Microfluidic Device for Producing Liposomes to Improve Drug Deliver Methods
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Liposomes are a promising method for delivering therapeutic agents to their destinations without first exposing them to the rest of the body. These vesicles, made from a dual layer of lipid molecules and often surrounded by a protective coating, have been difficult to produce consistently in large numbers. This has slowed the development of the tech**logy, but researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Tech**logy (NIST) have developed a new device that manufactures liposomes in quantities, all the same size and shape.

The 3D microfluidic device consists of seven glass capilary tubes each one a millimeter in diameter, with the center one having an even narrower tube running through it. By running a solution called PBS through the six outer tubes while a solution of phospholipid dissolved in ******* is pushed through the center, the result at the end are liposomes tuned to be the same size.

From the study abstract in Lab on a Chip:

A **vel microscale device has been developed to enable the one-step continuous flow assembly of mo**disperse na**scale liposomes using three-dimensional microfluidic hydrodynamic focusing (3D-MHF) in a concentric capillary array. The 3D-MHF flow technique displays patent advantages over conventional methods for na**scale liposome manufacture (i.e., bulk-scale ******* injection and/or sonication) through the on-demand synthesis of consistently uniform liposomes without the need for post-processing strategies. Liposomes produced by the 3D-MHF device are of tunable size, have a factor of two improvement in polydispersity, and a production rate that is four orders of magnitude higher than previous MHF methods, which can be attributed to entirely radially symmetric diffusion of *******-solvated lipid into an aqueous flow stream. Moreover, the 3D-MHF platform is simple to construct from low-cost, commercially-available components, which obviates the need for advanced microfabrication strategies necessitated by previous MHF na**particle synthesis platforms.

Study in Lab on a Chip: A facile route to the synthesis of mo**disperse na**scale liposomes using 3D microfluidic hydrodynamic focusing in a concentric capillary array…

NIST: Capillary Device Significantly Improves Manufacture of Quality Liposomes…

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