Microfluidic platform for shear-less aerosolization of lipid nanoparticles for messenger RNA inhalation

A low shear microfluidic aerosolization system for delivery of a therapeutic media into a pulmonary airway, the system configured to maintain droplet size and preserve mRNA encapsulation, the system comprising:

• a microfluidic chip having a plurality of microfluidic chambers and corresponding apertures, the microfluidic chip having a width of from about 3 mm to 5 mm, and wherein the plurality of microfluidic chambers comprises about 100 or more microfluidic chambers;
• a plurality of heat sources comprising resistors in thermal communication with each of the plurality of microfluidic chambers, the resistors in communication with circuitry to allow each of the plurality of microfluidic chambers to be individually addressable for drop ejection;
• a cartridge housing the microfluidic chip and multiple reservoirs holding the therapeutic media configured to deliver the therapeutic media into the plurality of microfluidic chambers, the therapeutic media comprising mRNA encapsulated within lipid nanoparticles;
• and a processor, configured to separately control each of the plurality of heat sources to generate an activation pulse heating pattern, wherein the processor executes programming to apply an electrical potential to each of the heat sources, the electrical potential being less than about 5V and having a pulse width of less than about 10 μs;
• wherein the plurality of microfluidic chambers express a plurality of droplets in response to the activation pulse heating pattern, wherein sizes of the lipid nanoparticles are substantially the same before and after expression, the plurality of droplets having diameters ranging from 7.3 μm to 24.4 μm after expression, and wherein the microfluidic aerosolization system is configured to preserve encapsulation of over 43% of the mRNA during expression of the plurality of droplets from the plurality of microfluidic chambers.