Medical devices
Hydrospheres
Microparticles which do not carry an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) are often considered as medical devices. The majority of microspheres which are used as medical devices are the so-called hydrospheres or hydrogel spheres.
These hydrospheres are prepared through water-in-oil emulsification of water soluble polymers such as chitosan, gelatine, collagen, hyaluronic acid, PEG and PVA. Due to their ability to absorb and retain large amounts of water, they show fascinating properties in aqueous solutions and high biocompatibility. These hydrospheres are often used as embolization agents, as dermal fillers and as wound healing agents.
Advantages for hydrosphere production
Emultech’s platform technology can as well be used to generate hydrospheres through water-in-oil emulsification and brings the following advantages
- easy fine tuning of particle sizes
- production of spherical and highly uniform particles
- fine tuning of particle degradation through in-line cross-linking
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Embolization
In Embolization microspheres are used to block a blood vessel (vein and / or artery). The relevant blood vessel is identified with a special catheter and then sealed with microspheres. The blood vessel size dictates the size of the microspheres. To achieve the desired penetration depth the embolization particles should have a uniform size. Emutech’s platform technology offers and excellent opportunity to generate hydrospheres of specific sizes.
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Wound healing
The high water retention of hydrospheres is highly beneficial in their use as wound healing agents. To provide the required stiffness and degradation kinetics the size and degree of cross-linking of these microspheres is important. Both of these parameters can be controlled and fine-tuned with Emultech’s platform technology through in-line cross-linking.
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Dermal filler
Injectable dermal fillers can plump thin lips, enhance shallow contours,remove wrinkles and improve the appearance of scars. Gel hardness and cohesivity of the filler are the main factors which determine the ultimate lift capabilities of a filler. The easy fine tuning of particle size with Emultech’s platform technology can generate microspheres of different sizes to provide the lift required for different dermal applications. The uniform nature as well improves injectability and packing of the microspheres.