A Microfluidic Device as a Drug Carrier

Abstract

The development of nanomedicine or medical nanotechnology, has brought important new ways to the development of medicines and biotechnology products. As a result of groundbreaking discoveries in the use of nanoscale materials significant commercialization initiatives have been launched and are at the forefront of the rapidly expanding field of nanotechnology by using smart particles. Microfluidic technologies use nano-and micro-scale manufacturing technologies to develop controlled and reproducible liquid microenvironments. Lead compounds with controlled physicochemical properties can be obtained using microfluidics, characterized by high productivity, and evaluated by biomimetic methods. Microfluidics, for example, can not only produce nanoparticles in a well-controlled, reproducible, and high-throughput manner, but it can also continuously create three-dimensional environments to mimic physiological and/or pathological processes. Materials with smart properties can be manipulated to respond in a controllable and reversible way, modifying some of their properties as a result of external stimuli such as mechanical stress or a certain temperature. All in all, microfluidic technology offers a potential platform for the rapid synthesis of various novel drug delivery systems. Therefore, these smart particles are equally necessary as the drug in drug delivery.