Design and Development of Nanotechnology based Theragnostic Carrier to minimize recurrence of Meningioma Tumor.

Meningioma is a type of brain tumour which is born and grows within the three layers of the human brain, called meninges, that lie just beneath the skull. It is one of the most common brain tumours, as a study suggested that between 2011 and 2015 it has accounted for 37% of all Central Nervous Syste

Project Title

Design and Development of Nanotechnology based Theragnostic Carrier to minimize recurrence of Meningioma Tumor.

Project Area of Specialization

Biomedical Engineering

Project Summary

Meningioma is a type of brain tumour which is born and grows within the three layers of the human brain, called meninges, that lie just beneath the skull. It is one of the most common brain tumours, as a study suggested that between 2011 and 2015 it has accounted for 37% of all Central Nervous System (CNS) tumours and 53% of non-malignant CNS tumours [1]. It is possible to resect meningioma by a surgical procedure.

Recurrence of such tumours is treated with radiation and chemical therapy as best suited for the tumour conditions. One problem that the chemotherapy generally faces is the inefficacy of drug absorption at the targeted site due to the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). Almost 95% of meningioma recur at the same site where they originally develop [2].

In our final year project "To Design and Develop Nanotechnology Based Theragnostic Carrier to Minimize Recurrence of Meningioma Tumour" we are aiming to synthesize a Nano implant carrying drugs, imaging agents and permeation enhancers all encapsulated in a Nano patch which will be placed at the site of the tumour after its resection to help eradicate all the remnants of tumour and help prevent its recurrence. This synthesized biodegradable, implantable Nano patch aims at effective overcoming the challenges due to BBB for the cytostatic (chemotherapeutic) agents.

In addition to this treating effect we plan to add such additives which will help in an enhanced imaging of the site of tumour after surgical resection to provide an improved insight that will be helpful in prognosis. Introduction of permeation enhancer will help in absorption of drug at the target location.

Beside a chemotherapeutic drug, we encapsulate contrast enhancers and permeation enhancers by a process of co-electrospun. The synthesized biodegradabel, biocompatible  and implantable Nanofiber patch will be the deliverable of this project which will serve as a therapeutic as well as diagnostic implant to minimize recurrence of Meningioma. We will also present complete characterization and drug release profile of our Nanopatch, employing state of the art methods of characterization such as SEM, FTIR and release behavior through UV-VIS spectrophotometry.

References:

1. Lin, D. D., Lin, J. L., Deng, X. Y., Li, W., Li, D. D., Yin, B., ... & Sheng, H. S. (2019). Trends in intracranial meningioma incidence in the United States, 2004?2015. Cancer medicine, 8(14), 6458-6467.
2. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/meningioma-recurrence

Project Objectives

1. To design a biocompatible, biodegradable and GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) graded , implantable drug carrier that can circumvent Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) for effective drug release in brain after tumor resection.
2. The proposed system aims to carry drug, contrast enhancer for better imaging and permeation enhancer for improved absorbance of drug at tumor site.
3. This design provides an alternative way for  radioactive procedures to minimize the effects of radioactive agents which can be unsafe for the general/ overall health of the body.

Project Implementation Method

This project is divided in to two main phases. In first phase we will perform multi axial electro-spinning, a GRAS (generally regarded as safe) polymer (PCL) and chemotherapeutic drug will be co-electro spun to form nano-fibers.  Along with polymer PCL (polycaprolactone ) and chemotherapeutic drug, additives like contrast enhancer and permeation enhancer will be added for the better visualization and absorption of the drug at the site of tumor after resection.

The second phase is about the characterization of the final deliverable. The Characterization of the implantable Nanopatch will be carried through state of the art medtods of material characterization such as Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for morphological analysis and Fourier Treansform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy for the chemical analysis of the deliverable. The release profile will be obtaiined by carring UV-VIS spectrophotometry so that release behavior can be modeled and reported in outcomes of the research project.

Steps to perform electro-spinning to form a nano fiber patch:

Step: 1

Make a solution by mixing the PCL and drug with suitable solvent and place it in syringe pump also place additives like contrast enhancer and permeation enhancer in other two pumps

Step: 2

Spinneret charges the solution along with additives by connecting power supply.

Step: 3

Due to high voltage, a fiber jet ejects from the needle of spinneret, for the certain distance the fibers extend in a straight path and then follows a loop path to collector.

Step: 4

 Slowly the solvent evaporates as the jet accelerated and polymer based nano-fibers are collected on the collector.

Benefits of the Project

Benefits of this project:

This projects aims to design an implantable nanofiber patch which holds chemo therapeutic drug, contrast enhancers and permeation enhancers whish is a model for an implantable layer that is placed on the site of meningioma tumour after the resection of tumour to minimize its recurrence.

This is a complete shift to the existing methods of chemotherapeutic agent’s management to patient after undergoing a surgical resection, thus providing a safe and effective solution for meningioma patients. Thus providing a safer mode of drug delivery and managemet of disease progression. 

The efficacy of our design is also envisaged to overcome the limitation of drug acceess and absorbance due to BBB. Also with such long acting implanted drug reservoir, the meningioma patients will not have to pay inconvenient visits to hospitals and radiation centre. More over a précised view to the cancer site will further be possible with our model.

This is a biodegradable, biocompatible and Generally Regarded as Safe solution for Meningioma Patients who are at high risk of recurrence in the close vicinity of affected site of tumour.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The deliverable will be a nanotechnology based biodegradable implant/ patch that will be placed at the site of Meningioma after resection. Beside cytostatic drug agents our synthesized patch will also be carrying contrast enhancers for improved imaging of meningioma site after resection. Further to this the synthesized patch will help in absorption of drug agents at the site.

The other deliverable will be sustainability study of synthesized patch by providing characterization results of the final deliverable through SEM, FTIR and UV-VIS Spectrophotometry.

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Health

Other Industries

Medical , Health

Core Technology

Wearables and Implantables

Other Technologies

NeuroTech

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com