Three-dimensional study of poly(lactic co-glycolic acid) micro-porous microspheres using hard X-ray nano-tomography

In this study, micro-porous PLGA microspheres loaded by bovine serum albumin are investigated by using a full-field Zernike phase contrast transmission hard X-ray microscope. From three-dimensional reconstructions and segmentations, fundamental microstructural parameters such as size, shape, distribution and volume ratio among pores and proteins inside PLGA microspheres were obtained. These parameters are useful to understand the relationship between the internal microstructure and drug encapsulation, as well as the drug release efficiency of PLGA microspheres. The presented results demonstrate the capability of hard X-ray nano-tomography to characterize porous microspheres loaded with proteins and drugs, and also open a way to analyse, optimize and design new PLGA microspheres for specific applications.

Source: Journal of Synchrotron Radiation - August 7, 2014 Category: Physics Authors: Wang, D.Li, N.Wang, Z.Gao, K.Zhang, Y.Luo, Y.Wang, S.Bao, Y.Shao, Q.Wu, Z. Tags: hard X-ray imaging nano-tomography PLGA microspheres salt concentration drug delivery research papers Source Type: research