Optimization of lipospheres production by factorial design and their performances on a dielectrophoretic lab-on-a-chip platform

Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the preparation parameters on the characteristics of lipospheres that would optimally fit to a lab-on-a-chip platform. Lipospheres were produced by melt dispersion technique using different lipid mixture heated to 70 ◦C and then emulsified into an external aqueous phase. The initial part of the work was devoted to the selection of the best lipid composition by a classical intuitive approach while the optimization and the screening of the experimental parameters were conducted through a “design of experiments”. Once the best preparation parameters were selected, they were adopted also for the production of cationic lipospheres (CLS). The second part of the study describes the analysis of the lipospheres performances when applied to a DEParrayTMChip. The loading, distribution, movement and separation of neutral and cationic lipospheres were investigated. The obtained data show that both neutral and cationic lipospheres can be efficiently used in association with DEParrayTMChip.