(98h) Îœfilms: Dynamics of Thin-Films Under Physiological Fluids and Shear Flow

Thin-film drug-delivery is an effective alternative to conventional tablets, capsules and liquids as it improves medicinal bioavailability, efficacy, dosage accuracy and onset of effectiveness. Typically, it consists of a thin, dissolving film that orally administers drugs. The significantly large surface area of the thin-film causes rapid disintegration, releasing drugs into systemic circulation via absorption through the oral mucosa. Thin-films are currently studied under static conditions that do not account for the influence of dynamic variables like shear stress due to blood flow, changes in electric potential and interactions with biological fluids on drug delivery. Here we seek to study films under dynamic physiological conditions that closely mimic those within the body, using a microfluidic chip called μFILMS. In the talk, we show our initial results, chiefly construction of the μFILMS chip using additive manufacturing, analysis of the output signals and biochemical/mechanical adjustment of the chip parameters to optimize the visualization and/or characterization of the films. The construction of the μFILMS chip consists of a Transwell® static membrane placed between two glass slides, forming two distinct