PolySciTech's SpinSwiper Could Speed Up Production of Controlled-Release Microparticles

PolySciTech’s new launch, SpinSwiper, has the potential to speed up microparticle production. Researchers in academic, commercial and pharmaceutical settings who need to generate microparticles, including those used in controlled-release drug delivery, could benefit from this new product.

Current methods to produce microparticles have drawbacks, noted John Garner, manager of PolySciTech, in a press release. Garner explained that some processes produce particles of different sizes, which consequently affect drug release from the particles because smaller particles will release the drug faster than larger ones. Other processes create particles that adhere to the template, which makes them difficult to remove.

According to Garner, the SpinSwiper process to create microparticles is visually similar to filling the wells in an ice cube tray. "A disposable template that is made of water-soluble polymer and contains a series of micrometer-sized wells is placed on the SpinSwiper. The template rotates across a hollow swiping blade filled with polymer, a drug and a solvent. The blade pushes the solution into the wells and removes the excess as the template continues to rotate," he said. "When the polymer dries, the microparticles have been formed and are the same diameter and shape as the wells. The template is dissolved, which leaves the microparticles to be collected."

Garner added that the microparticle technology, introduced in the late 1980s, may advance and new formulations may be developed with the SpinSwiper tool. "There may be such a small number of microparticle formulations because it is not easy to maintain consistency of conventional methods of preparation in scaled-up manufacturing," he said. "SpinSwiper allows researchers to design and produce formulations fast in quantities large enough for in vitro characterization and in vivo studies. A formulation can be adjusted easily to obtain the desired release kinetics matching that of a clinical product." 

Source: Purdue University Research Park News