Drug Delivery

Microfluidics provides a facile platform for generation of several biomaterials such as particles, capsules, microfibers, etc. The versatility of microfluidics based methods arises from the ability to control size, morphology, and composition of the generated entities. In this project the student will use microfluidic devices to generate drug and nanoparticle encapsulated microfibers for targeted drug delivery in pancreatic cancer.

The use of mesoporous nanoparticles (MSPs) as carriers for drug delivery systems has gained importance, as they are now recognized as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) for human intake. MSPs have a porous structure varying from 2-50 nm. These pores provide a high surface area for adsorption of drug, yielding high loadings  due to their high surface area to volume ratios. However diffusional resistance of the solid drug to the pore surface often poses a problem.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the cancers having the lowest 5-year survival rate, because of its late diagnosis and availability of only a couple of known drugs with very moderate increase in patient’s survival. Based on our earlier work, we have shown that, nanoparticle mediated delivery of existing drugs can enhance the cytotoxicity in cancer cells.

Osmotic tablets are drug-delivery systems that are used to deliver drugs in the body at a controlled rate over long periods of time. The core of the tablet mainly consists of a mixture of the active pharmaceutical ingredient(drug), osmogen such as salt and swelling polymer. The core is coated with a semipermeable membrane and small hole is drilled into it. When the tablet is ingested, the aqueous environment in the gut hydrates the tablet core and swells the polymer. The hydrostatic pressure created by the swelling pushes the hydrated drug out at a controlled rate.

In recent years controlled drug delivery using various biodegradable or biocompatible polymeric implants has generated increasing interests by impregnating the desired therapeutic agents for sustaining the drug effect for a prolong time.

The phenomenon of ultrasonic atomisation was first reported by Wood and Loomis nearly a century ago in 1927 [1] and since then has been extensively used for various purposes [2] like pulmonary drug delivery [3], preparation of fine powders [4], combustion of liquid fuels [5], ultrasonic spray pyrolysis [6] to name only a few. In this method of atomisation, mechanical energy transmitted from a rapidly vibrating piezoelectric crystal (in the ultrasonic regime) to a liquid layer in contact with it, causes large capillary waves to develop at the surface of the liquid.