Microfluidic confined acoustic streaming vortex for liposome synthesis

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Liposomes are highly regarded as drug delivery carriers due to their versatile properties.
• Existing microfluidic methods for liposome synthesis, like hydrodynamic flow focusing, face challenges including flow rate sensitivity, intricate chip designs, and clogging.
• There is a need for advanced microfluidic platforms offering enhanced control and robustness in liposome production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel microfluidic platform for the synthesis of size-tunable liposomes.
• To overcome the limitations of current microfluidic techniques, such as flow rate dependency and clogging.
• To achieve precise control over liposome size distribution using acoustic resonance.

Main Methods:

• A microfluidic platform incorporating an ultra-high-frequency acoustic resonator in a three-phase laminar flow system was designed.
• The platform utilizes acoustic streaming vortices to control lipid precursor distribution and mixing.
• Liposome synthesis was performed by adjusting the input power to the acoustic resonator.

Main Results:

• The novel platform successfully synthesized liposomes with adjustable sizes and narrow size distributions.
• Liposome size could be tuned by altering the input power, demonstrating significantly reduced flow rate dependency.
• The generated acoustic streaming vortex flow prevented lipid precipitation, ensuring consistent product quality.

Conclusions:

• The developed acoustic resonator-based microfluidic platform provides a robust and efficient method for size-tunable liposome synthesis.
• This approach offers superior control over liposome characteristics compared to conventional microfluidic techniques.
• The platform's ability to prevent precipitation enhances its applicability for scalable liposome production.