A Microfluidic Platform to design Multimodal PEG – crosslinked Hyaluronic Acid Nanoparticles (PEG-cHANPs) for diagnostic applications

The combination of different imaging modalities can allow obtaining simultaneously morphological and functional information providing a more accurate diagnosis. This advancement can be reached through the use of multimodal tracers, and nanotechnology-based solutions allow the simultaneous delivery of different diagnostic compounds moving a step towards their safe administration for multimodal imaging acquisition.

Among different processes, nanoprecipitation is a consolidate method for the production of nanoparticles and its implementation in microfluidics can further improve the control over final product features accelerating its potential clinical translation. A Hydrodynamic Flow Focusing (HFF) approach is proposed to produce through a ONE-STEP process Multimodal Pegylated crosslinked Hyaluronic Acid NanoParticles (PEG-cHANPs).

A monodisperse population of NPs with an average size of 140 nm is produced and Gd-DTPA and ATTO488 compounds are co-encapsulated, simultaneously. The results showed that the obtained multimodal nanoparticle could work as MRI/Optical imaging probe. Furthermore, under the Hydrodenticity effect, a boosting of the T1 values with respect to free Gd-DTPA is preserved.

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Article Information: Tammaro, O., Costagliola di Polidoro, A., Romano, E. et al. A Microfluidic Platform to design Multimodal PEG – crosslinked Hyaluronic Acid Nanoparticles (PEG-cHANPs) for diagnostic applications. Sci Rep 10, 6028 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63234-x