Microfluidic Assembly of Liposomes with Tunable Size and Coloading Capabilities

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Materials Science
• Pharmaceutical Sciences

Background:

• Traditional liposome production for drug delivery faces challenges in scalability and batch-to-batch consistency, hindering clinical translation.
• Variability in liposome characteristics impacts therapeutic efficacy and safety profiles.
• Need for advanced manufacturing techniques to produce reliable nanocarriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a microfluidic approach for reproducible and homogenous nanoparticle synthesis.
• To achieve tunable characteristics (size, drug encapsulation) of nanoparticles.
• To enable efficient co-delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a microfluidic device for controlled self-assembly of nanoparticles.
• Manipulated flow rates of ethanol and aqueous streams to control nanoparticle formation.
• Investigated nanoparticle size ranging from 30 to 500 nm.

Main Results:

• Achieved reproducible and homogenous nanoparticle production with tunable sizes (30-500 nm).
• Demonstrated efficient encapsulation of both hydrophobic drugs (in lipid bilayer) and hydrophilic drugs (in particle core).
• Successfully encapsulated hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs simultaneously or separately within the nanoparticles.

Conclusions:

• Microfluidic assembly provides a scalable and reproducible method for nanoparticle fabrication.
• The developed method overcomes limitations of traditional liposome production for pharmaceutical applications.
• This approach facilitates the development of advanced drug delivery systems with tailored properties.