• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Drug Delivery Business

  • Clinical Trials
  • Research & Development
  • Drug-Device Combinations
  • FDA
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Policy

MIT researchers think they’ve found a way to get more particles through a syringe

July 8, 2020 By Sean Whooley

Image: Felice Frankel and Christine Daniloff, MIT

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are touting a computational model that could prevent microparticle clogging during injections.

Microparticles, which are about the size of a grain of sand, can be difficult to inject if they get clogged in a typical syringe. The research team at MIT developed this new model that determines the optimal design for injectability, analyzing a number of factors including shapes and sizes of the particles.

Other factors considered include the viscosity of the solution in which the microparticles are suspended and the size and shape of the syringe and needle used to deliver. Particle size, particle concentration in the solution, solution viscosity and needle size proved to be the most important factors in the process.

According to a news release, the model offers a six-fold increase in the percentage of microparticles that can be successfully injected, and it gives the researchers hope that they can develop and test microparticles that could be used to deliver cancer immunotherapy drugs, among other potential applications.

“This is a framework that can help us with some of the technologies that we’ve developed in the lab and that we’re trying to get into the clinic,” MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research scientist Ana Jaklenec said in the release.

The researchers developed an optimal shape for the syringe that resembles a nozzle with a wide diameter tapered toward the tip. In testing this syringe, they found that the percentage of particles delivered increased from 15% to nearly 90%.

Now, the team believes that, on top of cancer immunotherapy drugs, the microparticles can be used to deliver a variety of vaccines or drugs, including small-molecule drugs and biologics.

“This is another way to maximize the forces that are acting on the particles and pushing the particles toward the needle,” MIT graduate student & lead author of a paper on the research Morteza Sarmadi said. “It’s a promising result that shows that there’s huge room for improvement in the injectability of microparticle systems.”

Funding for the MIT research came from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Koch Institute Support (core) Grant from the National Cancer Institute, and a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschestein National Research Service Award.

Filed Under: Discovery, Drug-Device Combinations, Featured, Immunotherapy, Research & Development Tagged With: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • Medtronic enrolls first patient in study for Onyx liquid embolic system
  • BD issues voluntary recall on certain Alaris infusion pump modules
  • Sequel Med Tech expects full twiist launch in the fall
  • Insulet hires new chief HR officer from J&J
  • Breakthrough T1D, Mattel debut Barbie doll with type 1 diabetes

About Sean Whooley

Sean Whooley is an associate editor who mainly produces work for MassDevice, Medical Design & Outsourcing and Drug Delivery Business News. He received a bachelor's degree in multiplatform journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or email him at swhooley@wtwhmedia.com.

Primary Sidebar

“ddb
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest news and trends happening now in drug delivery.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.

Footer

Drug Delivery Business News Logo

MassDevice Medical NETWORK

MassDevice
DeviceTalks
Medical Tubing + Extrusion
Medical Design & Outsourcing
MedTech100 Index
Drug Discovery & Development
Pharmaceutical Processing World
Medical Design Sourcing
R&D World

DRUG DELIVERY BUSINESS NEWS

Subscribe to Drug Delivery’s E-Newsletter
Advertise with us
About
Contact us
Privacy
Listen to our Weekly Podcasts

Copyright © 2025 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy | RSS