Ultrasound contrast agents are used to enhance ultrasound images by increasing the impedance mismatch between tissues and consist of microbubbles which can also house drugs in their shells for targeted drug delivery. The contrast agent developed in our lab, SE61, is created by sonicating a surfactant solution composed of Span 60 and vitamin E under perfluorocarbon gas purging. A drawback to this method is its inability to form bubbles with uniform diameter and drug load. Microfluidics is a field in science which deals with manipulating liquids constrained on a micrometer scale and patterned on a chip. Recent research shows monodispersed droplets can be formed utilizing microfluidics. The aim of this project was to investigate the potential of microfluidics to produce uniform SE61 agents. A functional chip with an asymmetric flow focusing device structure was assembled in a flow regime employing two syringe pumps. The microchip was able to produce water-oil emulsions consistently having a uniform diameter of 75 microns. Valuable insight into the parameters necessary to create SE61 by microfluidics were obtained including the critical flow rates of the pumps and the need to break down the surfactant solutions particle size to a size small enough to be pumped through the chip.
