Researchers in the DeSimone Group, using Particle Replication In Nonwetting Templates (PRINT ®) technology, have fabricated multiphasic and regio-specifically functionalized shape-controlled particles that include end-labeled particles via post-functionalization; biphasic Janus particles that integrate two compositionally different chemistries into a single particle; and more complex multiphasic shape-specific particles.
Controlling the anisotropic distribution of matter within a particle creates an extra parameter in the colloidal particle design, providing opportunities to generate advanced particles with versatile and tunable compositions, properties, and thus functionalities. Owing to their robust characteristics, these multiphasic and regio-specifically functionalized PRINT particles should be promising platforms for applications in life science and materials science.
Joseph DeSimone, the Chancellor's Eminent Professor of Chemistry at UNC Chapel Hill and the co-founder of Liquidia Technologies was recently featured in the Herald Sun describing a prototype of a new device that he and the DeSimone Group at UNC are developing. The device would allow for minimally invasive electric field-assisted, local delivery of small molecule chemotherapies, biologicals, and chemotherapy-loaded nanoparticles for the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma
The device, pictured above, could be capable of efficient and uniform delivery by overcoming the various biological barriers common to pancreatic tumors, including the up-hill gradients in flow and pressure. This technology could potentially offer an entirely new modality for the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma under the emerging field of interventional oncology. The inspiration for the design of the prototype device was drawn from innovations in the fields of medical devices, nanomedicine and oncology.