NTA Characterises Drug Carrier Polymer Nanoparticles at Saarland University

NanoSight has reported on how nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) is used to help with the characterisation of polymeric nanoparticles synthesised as drug carrier systems. The work is being carried out at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany, by Dr. Christian Ruge and his colleagues.

In the world of pharmaceutical sciences, a detailed and full characterisation of particles synthesised as drug carrier systems is indispensable. The particle size is a crucial parameter to be monitored as this will affect the stability of formulations. It will also impact with respect to size-dependent effects in biological experiments, such as the uptake of drug systems by cells.

NTA is used as a complementary tool to a Malvern Zetasizer to characterise the nanoparticles prepared by Dr. Ruge, a research scientist in the Department of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology in the group of Professor Claus-Michael Lehr. The particles are mainly polymer-based and typically in the size range from 100 400 µm. Especially when studying samples of moderate polydispersity (i.e. with a polydispersity index of larger than 0.2), the group uses the NanoSight system to measure the preparations to identify particle populations that are not resolved by the Malvern system.

Dr. Ruge spoke of the benefits of using NTA rather than techniques such as scanning electron microscopy or dynamic light scattering: “The fact that the system is performing particle-by-particle-based measurements is a huge advantage, especially in terms of its resolving power. The fact that the instrument gives a concentration value is very useful. I feel that visualisation of the particles based on their scattered light gives more insight as to the sample and its behaviour. I personally find that it is more fun working with the NanoSight instrument compared with the Zetasizer. The interaction with the instrument and being able to visualise the individual particles makes it less of a ‘black box’ instrument and more interesting for me as a scientist to use. Also, I have found that during demonstrations for students, the NanoSight appears to be more transparent and thus better suited for educational purposes.”

NanoSight Ltd, +44 1980 676060, sarah.newell@nanosight.com, www.nanosight.com.