Description:
Reference #: 01396
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for Method for Tuning Surface Topography of Biocompatible, Injectable Polymer Particles
Background:
Polymer particles for drug delivery are made using an oil-in-water emulsion technique. Polymer particles are made to have rough surfaces, which impact their drug release characteristics and are expected to impact their cell and tissue interactions.
Invention Description:
This invention is the addition of a secondary emulsifier and a co-solvent to the oil phase that affords a system that modulates the surface roughness of the polymer particles. The particle surface topography can be tuned from smooth to ruffled.
Potential Applications:
This method allows for the production of polymer particles with ruffled surface topography as drug-delivery vehicles. A ruffled topography allows for control over drug delivery rates and cell-particle and tissue-particle interactions.
Advantages and Benefits:
There are currently no procedures that allow for the tuning of surface roughness of biocompatible polymer particles for drug delivery.
Smooth surface topography can limit the kinetics of drug delivery and cell and tissue interactions with the particle; tuning the surface topography to ruffled can eliminate these issues.