FIsher Team: Microfluidic-based production of nano particles
We borrowed a method first published by Jahn et alii about 7 years ago, in which lipid dissolved in ethanol are streamed through a central channel and compressed by 2 streams of buffer (we used PBS). This hydrodynamic focusing results in the generation of liposomes at the interface of the miscible liquids. This results in an easy prep of liposomes, faster and cheaper (and perhaps more consistent) than extrusion. Changing the flow rates (ranging from 5 to 100ul/min) at a constant ratio (5 to 1) between buffer and lipids results in different particle diameters (range between 50 and 200nm). We tested different patterns in our chips, the one imaged below was the winner (easier to set up, consistent results). We also have chips with patterns that may facilitate the addition of molecules for particle-functionalization or loading.
