Developing Microfluidic Routes to Effective Nanoparticle Drug Delivery Systems

A Dolomite Microfluidics’ set-up is helping researchers in the University of Manchester’s Division of Pharmacy and Optometry to enhance drug delivery. Dr Annalisa Tirella explained: “My background is bioengineering, where I gained expertise in biomaterials and fabrication techniques. At the beginning of my career, I focused my research on the design and manufacture of biomaterials to be used as in vitro models for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Now, I am applying this knowledge of micro-scale techniques to the microfluidic encapsulation of therapeutics in nanoparticles, to offer more efficient and effective targeted drug delivery. Currently, my research group is formulating PLGA drug delivery systems for oncology applications, and liposomes for the co-delivery of fat- and water-soluble therapeutics.”

“I knew that the Dolomite Microfluidics system would also be ideal for our work in the North West Centre for Advanced Drug Delivery (NoWCADD). It is easy to use and robust, allows us to make both nano- and micro-particle drug delivery systems, and has the advantage that we can use custom chips to optimize the performance of our processes. The system is very flexible too; we can quickly and easily change parameters to test a prototype reaction using just a few microliters of a preparation, minimizing the costs involved. Importantly, the system gives us good control over our processes, eliminating batch-to-batch variation, which means that we can consistently and reliably produce nanoparticles. That’s the really big benefit of the system.”

Established in 2005, Dolomite Microfluidics has grown to be the world leader in the design and manufacture of high quality innovative microfluidic products.

The company offers a range of microfluidic systems, components and specialist chemicals – including pumps, chips, connectors, temperature controllers, sensors, accessories and custom-made components – as well as software for analysis or automation.

Modularity, ease of use, innovation and scalability are common to all Dolomite Microfluidics products, which are used across a broad range of applications in biology, drug discovery, chemistry, food, cosmetics and academia.

Dolomite is a part of the Blacktrace group of companies, a world leader in Productizing Science^®, and has offices in the USA, Japan, India , Brazil and Hanoi as well as a worldwide network of distributors. For more information, visit www.dolomite-microfluidics.com.