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Presenter: Christopher, Fraker, Miami, United States
Authors: Christopher A. Fraker1,2, Kerim Gattas-Asfura1, Armando Mendez1,3,5, Luca Inverardi1,3,4, Camillo Ricordi1,2,3, Cherie L. Stabler1,2
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Optimization of nano-scale emulsions: perfluoro micellar solutions for enhanced oxygen transfer in biomedical applications
Christopher A. Fraker1,2, Kerim Gattas-Asfura1, Armando Mendez1,3,5, Luca Inverardi1,3,4, Camillo Ricordi1,2,3, Cherie L. Stabler1,2
1Biomedical Engineering; 2Department of Surgery; 3School of Medicine; 4Microbiology and Immunology; 5Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
Nano–scale emulsification has long been utilized by the food and cosmetics industry to maximize material delivery through increased surface area to volume ratios. More recently, these methods have been employed in the area of biomedical research to enhance and control the delivery of numerous pharmaceutical and cytoprotective compounds. Of particular interest is the use of perfluorocarbon (PFC) nano-scale emulsions to increase overall oxygen mass transfer within the surrounding milieu. In this work, we developed and implemented methods for optimizing the manufacture of stable emulsions focusing on component selection, emulsification time, emulsification pressure and accurate characterization of temporal emulsion stability and oxygen delivering capacity. Through careful analysis of these parameters we were able to design reproducible and well-defined oxygen-delivering PFC emulsions for use in cell-based applications.
Oxygen mass transfer, or diffusive permeability, is determined by the product of the effective oxygen diffusivity through and oxygen solubility in the emulsion. We found that particle size was the critical factor affecting oxygen mass transfer, as increased micelle size resulted in reduced oxygen diffusion, canceling the benefit of increased dissolved oxygen content in the perfluorocarbon phase of the emulsion. Particle size stability was directly related to the perfluorocarbon utilized, particularly the molecular weight, diffusivity through the liquid phase and interfacial tension between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic emulsion components. Overall, this work demonstrated the importance of accurate characterization of emulsification parameters in order to generate stable, reproducible emulsions with the desired bio-delivery properties.
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