 | Morris Michael Columbia University Biomedical EngineeringMentor(s)Fernando Muzzio Ph.D. Frank Romanski Eric Jayjock Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Rutgers University |
| ||
| Production of Nanosuspensions using Flow-Induced Phase Inversion (FIPI) | ||
| Phase inversion is the process in which an emulsion of immiscible liquids can transition between oil-in-water and water-in-oil systems. The goal of this project is to investigate whether smaller particle size can be produced using flow-induced phase inversion verse using shear solely. Phase inversion depends on a host of operating conditions such as shear rate, concentration, viscosity and temperature. Although phase inversion has been known to be spontaneous, the inversion usually occurs within an indeterminate region. The determination of this region is vital to understanding the system prior to incorporation of pharmaceuticals. In this project, the region is determined by applying a known shear, at a constant temperature, at a predetermined concentration, and observing the conductivity of the solution. Higher conductivities indicate a water continuous phase. A high pressure homogenizer or rotostater was used to apply shear force. In the range 800-1000 atms, the mean particle size achieved is 394 µm; a target of thousand-fold smaller is needed for the realization of nanosuspensions. The production of these nanosuspensions effectively increases the surface area for poorly water-soluble drugs, and as a consequence, increases the bioavailability of the drug. |