화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Supercritical Fluids, Vol.133, 263-269, 2018
Production of drug-releasing biodegradable microporous scaffold using a two-step micro-encapsulation/supercritical foaming process
A two-step fabrication process combining emulsification-solvent evaporation method for encapsulation of drug in PLGA microparticles followed by supercritical gas foaming was developed to produce drug-releasing biodegradable micro-porous foams. The encapsulation and release of model hydrophobic drug (Curcumin) and of model hydrophilic drug (Gentamicin) were investigated in this work. By utilizing a two-step fabrication process, a uniform dispersion of the drug in PLGA polymer matrix can be achieved and the method can be further adapted for the encapsulation of a wide range of active ingredient (both hydrophobic and hydrophilic) in biodegradable micro-porous scaffold. The in vitro release profile of the drug-encapsulated PLGA foam was studied over a period of 2 weeks and it was observed that the drug release profile can be engineered by the selection of different PLGA polymer blend, varying lactic to glycolic ratio and molecular chain length of the polymer, and by addition of compatible biodegradable polymer such as Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) to the polymer matrix.