title: Production of nanoparticle drug delivery systems with microfluidics tools.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nowadays the development of composite nano- and microparticles is an extensively studied area of research. This interest is growing because of the potential use of such particles in drug delivery systems. Indeed they can be used in various medical disciplines depending upon their sizes and their size distribution, which determine their final biomedical applications.
  
  
  METHODS
  Amongst the different techniques to produce nanoparticles, microfluidic techniques allow preparing particles having a specific size, a narrow size distribution and high encapsulation efficiency with ease. This review covers the general description of microfluidics, its techniques, advantages and disadvantages with focus on the encapsulation of active principles in polymeric nanoparticles as well as on pure drug nanoparticles. Polymeric nanoparticles constitute the majority of the examples reported; however lipid nanoparticulate systems (DNA, SiRNA nanocarriers) are very comparable and their formulation processes are in most cases exactly similar. Accordingly this review focuses also on active ingredient nanoparticles formulated by nanoprecipitation processes in microfluidic devices in general. It also provides detailed description of the different geometries of most common microfluidic devices and the crucial parameters involved in techniques designed to obtain the desired properties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the classical fabrication of nanoparticles drug delivery systems in batch is extremely well-described and developed, their production with microfluidic tools arises today as an emerging field with much more potential. In this review we present and discuss these new possibilities for biomedical applications through the current emerging developments.
authors.affiliation: University of Strasbourg, CNRS UMR 7199, Laboratoire de Conception et Application de Molécules Bioactives, Faculty of Pharmacy , 74 route du Rhin, 67401 Illkirch Cedex , France vandamme@unistra.fr.
authors.forename: Ikram Ullah
authors.initials: IU
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Christophe A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anton
authors.forename: Thierry F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Vandamme
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D011108:Polymers; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering
keywords: drug delivery systems; microfluidics; nanoparticle; nanoprecipitation; pharmaceuticals