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Property-Tuneable Microgels Fabricated by Using Flow-Focusing Microfluidic Geometry for Bioactive Agent Delivery
Wing-Fu Lai1,2, Wing-Tak Wong1
1Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Pharmaceutics
|June 2, 2021
Summary
Gelatine methacryloyl (GM) microgels fabricated using microfluidics offer controlled release of bioactive agents. These biocompatible and non-cytotoxic microgels show potential for pharmaceutical and food applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Microfluidics
- Drug Delivery Systems
Background:
- Gelatine methacryloyl (GM) is a highly biocompatible material widely used in tissue engineering.
- Exploration of GM for bioactive agent delivery remains limited.
- Controlled fabrication of microgels is crucial for effective agent encapsulation and release.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a microfluidic approach for fabricating monodisperse gelatine methacryloyl (GM) microgels.
- To investigate the potential of these microgels as carriers for bioactive agents.
- To evaluate the encapsulation efficiency and release kinetics of a model agent.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a flow-focusing microfluidic device for microgel fabrication.
- Tuned microgel size by adjusting gel-forming solution concentration and flow rates.
- Employed tetracycline hydrochloride as a model bioactive agent for encapsulation studies.
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated highly monodisperse GM microgels with tunable sizes.
- Achieved prolonged release of tetracycline hydrochloride, with encapsulation efficiency of 30-40%.
- Demonstrated negligible cytotoxicity of the fabricated microgels.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidic fabrication provides precise control over GM microgel properties for agent delivery.
- GM microgels exhibit promising characteristics for sustained release of bioactive agents.
- These microgels hold potential as carriers in food and pharmaceutical industries due to biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity.
