Aerogel and supercritical technology for the development of skin and pulmonary drug delivery systems

Abstract

Supercritical fluid technology offers great advantages in the field of materials processing for pharmaceutical applications. On one hand, it allows for the processing of materials into microparticles via micronization, reducing or avoiding the use of organic solvents and multi-step processes. On the other hand, supercritical fluids can be used for the extraction of the liquid phase of gels to obtain aerogels without significant damage in the porous structure. In this PhD Thesis, supercritical fluids were applied in the preparation of drug delivery systems for wound treatment and pulmonary administration. A supercritical CO2-based micronization process, the PGSS technique, was modeled and applied for the production of lipid microparticles loaded with lidocaine HCl, an anesthetic drug with antibacterial properties, for wound applications. Chitosan aerogel particles loaded with the anbitiotic drug vancomycin HCl were produced by the dripping method and the jet cutting technique and studied for specific chronic wound applications. Finally, the technological combination of the inkjet printing technique and supercritical drying was proposed and developed for the production of alginate microparticles with suitable aerodynamic diameters for the pulmonary delivery of salbutamol sulphate, used in the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases.