| dc.description.abstract | Microparticles are widely researched for use as drug delivery vehicles for numerous applications due to their ability to eliminate side effects and decrease dose frequency. However, there lacks a comprehensive technology that can fabricate the optimal drug loaded microparticles for most applications. In this work, we developed a comprehensive technology to fabricate the optimal microparticles for a wide range of drug delivery applications. This was accomplished through the development of a fundamental set of photoreactive inks and use of piezoelectric ink jet printing. The developed technology incorporated tunable properties important in drug delivery such as precise microparticle size, softness, hydrophilicity, and network density. Furthermore, the technology has the capability to incorporate synthetic hydrophilic, synthetic hydrophobic, and/or biological drugs with high drug loading and encapsulation efficiency. The fundamental set of photoreactive inks were strategically developed to exploit the structure- property relationship boundaries of the network precursors. This was accomplished by synthesizing functionalized hydrophilic semibranched and hydrophobic linear copolymers, and the utilization of a tri-functionalized crosslinking monomer. The developed inks were then printed with a Dimatix Materials printer for microparticle fabrication. The printed ink droplets were rapidly crosslinked upon initiation with UV or visible light. The crosslinked microparticles were then collected by washing or dissolving the printing substrate depending on the microparticle-substrate interaction. Fabricated dye loaded microparticles were analyzed using confocal microscopy which showed that the microparticles were spherical, precise in size, and
that the dye was uniformly distributed throughout. Tunable softness, hydrophilicity, and size were verified through traditional techniques, and a new way to tune the size through the precursor network concentration was discovered. The technology was then utilized to engineer microparticles for a specific application, malaria elimination via pulmonary drug delivery. The prototype microparticles were investigated using a series of in vitro tests to evaluate their success for malaria elimination. The results showed promise that the microparticles would make a significant step towards malaria elimination; and also demonstrate the capability of the developed technology to fabricate the optimal microparticles for a target drug delivery application. | |
