A biodegradable and non-cytotoxic microsphere, made from carboxymethyl cellulose and chitosan, which can be suitably suspended in the contrast solution and easily injected through a microcatheter, has been prepared by inversion emulsion method. Researchers Weng et al from the University of Minnesota, USA, have published the preparation in the August issue of JVIR.
The researchers report that the prepared transparent microspheres were found to have diameters of 100–1,550μm and were easily coloured with Evans blue dye. They also examined the compressibility with a texture analyser.
Researchers reported that sieving ensured readily available uniform subgroups. “Within three minutes, the microspheres form a stable suspension in a 4:6 contrast agent/saline solution mixture, which can be easily injected through microcatheters without aggregating or clogging.”
Jafar Golzarian and Lihui Weng, both authors on the study, have filed a patent on the procedure. Golzarian told Interventional News “These microspheres are biodegradable and the times they take to degrade can vary from two weeks to one month. We have seen that they have no negative effect on the growth of human fibroblasts.”
