In this section
@article{Hay:2026:10.1039/d3lc00995e,
author = {Hay, CD and Mahutanattan, SM and Pilkington, CP and Paez-Perez, M and Kelly, KA and Elani, Y and Kuimova, MK and Brooks, NJ and Noseda, M and Hindley, JW and Ces, O},
doi = {10.1039/d3lc00995e},
journal = {Lab Chip},
title = {Affordable, cleanroom-free millifluidic production of targeted lipid nanocarriers via additive manufacturing.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3lc00995e},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - Lipid nanocarriers utilise the self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules to generate particle formulations capable of drug encapsulation and dynamic interactions with user-defined cell types, enabling applications within targeted therapeutic delivery. This offers increased bioavailability, stability, and reduced off-target effects, with the promise of application to numerous cell types and consequently, diseases. Here, we have developed a highly accessible, cleanroom-free method for the fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) millifluidic vertical flow focusing (VFF) devices via laser cutting, multilayered solvent and heat-assisted bonding. We demonstrate that these can be used for one-step production of targeted lipid nanocarriers via the production of cardiomyocyte-targeting vesicle nanoparticles loaded with the hydrophobic drug menadione. We characterise vesicle size using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), whilst also probing the membrane viscosity of vesicles produced via flow-focusing for the first time using molecular rotors. Finally, we apply cardiomyocyte-targeting, menadione-loaded vesicles to H9C2 tissue culture demonstrating significant inhibition of cell viability via targeted delivery, showcasing the potential of our device to produce formulations for therapeutic delivery. As a flow-based method, VFF can facilitate rapid formulation investigation and produce large sample volumes for cell-based validation studies, whilst avoiding inter-batch sample variation. Furthermore, the accessible nature of this VFF approach will help to democratise millifluidics, facilitating the wider adoption of flow-based production methods to develop nanomedical formulations.
AU - Hay,CD
AU - Mahutanattan,SM
AU - Pilkington,CP
AU - Paez-Perez,M
AU - Kelly,KA
AU - Elani,Y
AU - Kuimova,MK
AU - Brooks,NJ
AU - Noseda,M
AU - Hindley,JW
AU - Ces,O
DO - 10.1039/d3lc00995e
PY - 2026///
TI - Affordable, cleanroom-free millifluidic production of targeted lipid nanocarriers via additive manufacturing.
T2 - Lab Chip
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3lc00995e
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/41510603
ER -