Dr. N.

K Acharya
Applied Physics Department
The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara

Only in the US, the medical membrane market approaches

1.5 billion dollars per year and grows steadily.
Membranes Applications :
Drug delivery
Skin Grafts
Tissue Engineering
Artificial Pancreas
Artificial Liver
Blood Oxygenation
Dialysisartificial kidney
Barriers

Separation and sorting of biomolecules

(Isolation and purification of molecules: Kidney applications)

Biosensing
(Reacted Enzyme detection: Sugar level, Cholesterol)

Single molecular analysis (DNA/RNA)

Immunoisolation
(Semipermeable membrane: protecting implanted cells or drug release
systems from an immune reaction)

Targeted Drug delivery (Tracers)

(To enable supply of drugs locally where they are needed in a controlled
manner)

Biodegradable materials
Membrane thickness
Pore size
Pore density
Pore distribution
Small tortuosity

Physical, chemical,
and/or electrical
driving force

Feed or concentrate
Solute or particle
rejection

Accumulated, rejected material,

migrating back to bulk solution

Semi-permeable (selective) membrane

Permeate

Modified structural/ surface Properties (Enhance the interaction)

Plasma etching
Corona discharge
UV irradiation
Electron/Ion Irradiation

The goal of an ideal drug delivery system is to deliver a drug to a specific site, in
specific time and release pattern. The traditional medical forms (tablets,
injection solutions, etc.) provide drug delivery with peaks, often above the
required dose. The constant drug level in blood or sustained drug release to
avoid multiple doses

In diffusion controlled membrane systems, the drug release is controlled by

transport of the drug across a membrane. The transport is dependent on the drug
diffusivity through the membrane and the thickness of the membrane, according to
Ficks law. The membrane can be porous or non-porous and biodegradable or not.

Ficks law
Transdermal delivery systems

The scaffold (Membrane Structure) should be highly porous with

good pore connectivity to ensure sufficient nutrient transport
towards the cells and removal of waste products with suitable
mechanical properties.

Definition:
The radiation which produces any chemical or physical change in substances
when passes through it. These are harmful biologically.
Ionizing radiation can be sorted into 2 major types:
Photons (x-rays and gamma rays), which are most widely
used in cancer treatment
Particle radiation (such as electrons, protons, neutrons,
carbon ions, alpha particles, and beta particles, heavy ions)
Examples:
Alpha Particles
Beta Particles
Gamma Rays
Electron tomography
Neutrons
X-Rays
X-ray computed tomography (CT)

Data Acquisition

What are Heavy Ions?

Heavy ions are ionised atoms which are usually heavier than C.

Heavy ions are composed of Hadrons.

Heavy ions refers to atoms that are generally completely ionised, i.e. they are bare
atomic nuclei.

The nuclei can be directed to a fixed target, or can be split into two beams moving
in opposite directions that are brought into collision at a well-defined spot.

Heavy ion nuclei most often used in nuclear physics experiments include C, Si, W,
Au, Pb, U

 A nuclear particle accelerator is a device designed to produce a stream of ions

that are directed along some path.
This is typically achieved by first generating the ions, then causing them to
pass through a large electrical potential difference in order to increase their
energy even further. From there, a series of magnets are used to direct the
high-energy beam towards a "target".

Lifetime spectra of polycarbonate

Unirradiated
5 x 106

100000

10 keV Electron
Accelerator (UHV)

4 x 108
1 x 1012

Counts

10000

1000

100

PALS Set up

10

1
100

200

300

Channel no. (58.6 ps/channel)

400

Polymeric membranes
Anodized membranes

Microfabricated membranes
Ordered nanoporous semiconductors

ION TRACK ETCHING

Material (PC, PSf and PET)

Fabrication Method
(Solution Cast Method)
Pore Size (few nm)
The process involves irradiating a thin
polymeric film with accelerated heavy ions,
which leave so-called ion tracks.
These ion tracks can then be enlarged to
pores by chemical etching with an
appropriate reagent that preferentially
attacks the damaged track zone.
Cylindrical or conical pores are produced
with diameters in the range of 10 nm to
micrometers.

ion tracks

PIOFG
Rearrangement Heating Protocol
T2
t2

T (C)

300
1 hr
complete
Imidization

25
time

www.nuc.berkeley.edu/sites/
www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/
www.iuac.res.in/
www.tifr.res.in/

Adiga et al., Wiley Interdiscip Rev

Nanobiotechnol. 2009 ; 1(5): 568581.
J. Membr. Sci., 308 (2008) 134.
J. Membr. Sci., 107, 1-21 (1995)

Nanomed

Membranes and Barriers: Targeted Drug Delivery, U.S.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

www.goo.gl/pc4zRQ