Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Design And Fabrication Of A Multifunctional Nano-On-Micro Delivery System, Alexandra D. Bannerman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The treatment of tumours using microbeads for embolization and drug delivery is a widely used, but often ineffective, technique. In this work, we aim to produce microbeads for this application with four main improvements: visibility, target-ability, degradability, and an alternative route for drug loading. We accomplish this through the fabrication of ~100μm diameter microbeads composed of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), iron oxide nanoparticles, and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) using a custom-designed microchannel system. Characterization demonstrated that microbeads were magnetic, as well as visible under clinical CT. Separately, the dissolution of PVA iron oxide hydrogels exposed to different environmental conditions was studied. Iron …