Microfluidics in nanoparticle drug delivery; From synthesis to pre-clinical screening

Jungho Ahn; Jihoon Ko; Somin Lee; James Yu; YongTae Kim; Noo Li Jeon

doi:10.1016/j.addr.2018.04.001

Microfluidics in nanoparticle drug delivery; From synthesis to pre-clinical screening

Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2018 Mar 15:128:29-53. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2018.04.001. Epub 2018 Apr 5.

Authors

Jungho Ahn¹, Jihoon Ko², Somin Lee³, James Yu³, YongTae Kim⁴, Noo Li Jeon⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea; George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332, GA, USA.
² School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
³ Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
⁴ George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332, GA, USA; Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332, GA, USA; Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332, GA, USA; Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332, GA, USA.
⁵ School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea. Electronic address: njeon@snu.ac.kr.

PMID: 29626551
DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2018.04.001

Abstract

Microfluidic technologies employ nano and microscale fabrication techniques to develop highly controllable and reproducible fluidic microenvironments. Utilizing microfluidics, lead compounds can be produced with the controlled physicochemical properties, characterized in a high-throughput fashion, and evaluated in in vitro biomimetic models of human organs; organ-on-a-chip. As a step forward from conventional in vitro culture methods, microfluidics shows promise in effective preclinical testing of nanoparticle-based drug delivery. This review presents a curated selection of state-of-the-art microfluidic platforms focusing on the fabrication, characterization, and assessment of nanoparticles for drug delivery applications. We also discuss the current challenges and future prospects of nanoparticle drug delivery development using microfluidics.

Keywords: 3D culture; Drug delivery; Microfluidics; Nanomedicine; Nanotechnology; Organ-on-a-chip.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Drug Delivery Systems / instrumentation*
Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
Humans
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques* / instrumentation
Nanoparticles / administration & dosage*
Particle Size
Surface Properties