Abstract
The availability of forming technologies able to mass produce porous polymeric microspheres with diameters ranging from 150 to 300μm is significant for some biomedical applications where tissue augmentation is required. Moreover, appropriate assembly of microspheres into scaffolds is an important challenge to enable direct usage of the as-formed structures in treatments. This work reports the production of poly (glycolic-co-lactic acid) and poly (ε-caprolactone) microspheres under ambient conditions using one-step electrohydrodynamic jetting (traditionally known as atomisation) and thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). To ensure robust production for practical uses, this work presents 12 comprehensive parametric mode mappings of the diameter distribution profiles of the microspheres obtained over a broad range of key processing parameters and correlating of this with the material parameters of 5 different polymer solutions of various concentrations. Poly (glycolic-co-lactic acid) (PLGA) in Dimethyl carbonate (DMC), a low toxicity solvent with moderate conductivity and low dielectric constant, generated microspheres within the targeted diameter range of 150–300μm. The fabrication of the microspheres suitable for formation of the scaffold structure is achieved by changing the collection method from distilled water to liquid nitrogen and lyophilisation in a freeze dryer.
Highlights
Microspheres have been widely used in medical and pharmaceutical applications as effective carriers of encapsulated drugs [1,2]
This study investigated the feasibility of producing microspheres using one-step fabrication by single-nozzle electrohydrodynamic atomisation (EHDA) and the subsequent assembly into scaffold structures with thermally induced phase separation (TIPS)
This study reports a new method for the fabrication of microspheres with surface porosity and a narrow diameter range
Summary
Microspheres have been widely used in medical and pharmaceutical applications as effective carriers of encapsulated drugs [1,2]. Control of the internal and external morphology of the microspheres can be used to influence their interactions with the encapsulated drug as well as the microenvironment after their delivery into the body. Microspheres with surface porosity show a better rate of drug release compared with their smooth surface counterparts. This is because the porous membrane will lead to a slow homeostatic level of the encapsulated drug and prevent the spheres from initial sudden burst [4]
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