2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium
2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium
The Analysis of Droplet Formation and Surface Interactions of MicroWheels
The Analysis of Droplet Formation and Surface Interactions of MicroWheels
PROJECT NUMBER: 14 | AUTHORS: Tyler Schraeder and Logan Yeager, Chemical and Biological Engineering
MENTOR: David Marr, Chemical and Biological Engineering
ABSTRACT
Cystic Fibrosis, and other respiratory illnesses affect millions of people annually. Due to the congestion of airways from mucus build up, traditional drug delivery methods are slow to act and difficult to administer. Our lab works to improve the treatment of respiratory illnesses using microwheels, collections of superparamagnetic micron scale particles formed with external magnetic fields, to increase the speed of drug delivery, provide targeted care, and assist in the removal of mucus. The goal of our research is to understand the physics of these superparamagnetic particles – dynabeads – at an air-fluid interface, and the aerosolization of particles into model systems. Optical microscopy along with image and video analysis software is used to characterize aerosols and microwheels. It was found that wheels at an air-fluid interface travel opposite the direction observed for that of a fluid-wall interface. Factors such as surfactant concentration and relative liquid and air flow rates had a significant effect on aerosol size. This preliminary research will hopefully inspire in vitro work and eventually lead to medical treatments.
PRESENTATION
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Tyler Schraederis a junior studying Chemical Engineering at Mines with a minor in Mathematical Science. He a Colorado Native Littleton, where I went to Columbine Highschool. He is an active hiker and runner in his free time. Alongside his research with Dr. Marr’s group, his an active member of the university’s Genetic Engineering Organization (IGEM). He is glad to be presenting his second semester of research at the Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Logan Yeager is a second-year student at Mines studying Chemical Engineering with a Biological Focus. He is a Colorado native from Thornton and went to Mountain Range high school, Sko Stangs! In his time you can find him painting or playing soccer for the Club team here at Mines, and on his free weekends you can find him doing anything outdoors, from fly fishing to backpacking to dirt biking and rock climbing to so much more. This is his first semester on the Marr research group, and it has sparked a deep interest in pursuing research as a career. Among other things, you can find him on campus teaching CSM 101 as a peer mentor or hanging out with his brothers from the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He loves collecting vinyl, and stories from meeting new people and is excited for the opportunity presented by the Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Very cool research, and seems like it has the potential to be extremely impactful in the field. I liked how accessible the research was to viewers, and the various forms of media you both utilized to explain the background information and your projects. Good job!
Amazing research! You say that the MicroWheel is faster acting, do you have a time frame of its impact compared to the slow acting treatments. This sounds like the start of some extremely beneficial and impactful treatments!
That’s a great question! For lung treatment we are still in the early stages of testing so we have not done any in vivo trials of mucus clearance, but preliminary tests on the movement of mucus fronts on glass slides aided by micro wheels are in the 10-20 micro per second range. How much this would translate to a biological system is unknown. Currently Post Doc Eric Roth is working on that side of the lung project in Marr’s Lab.
Great Question! Currently, we do not have any in vivo models of our system yet, but Post-Doc Eric Roth is working on characterizing mucus clearance aided by micro wheels. On glass slides, micro wheel aided clearance has been observed at a front speed of approximately 10-20 microns per second, significantly faster than diffusion alone. How much this would translate to a medical setting or lung topology is currently unknown.
That’s a fantastic question Allie, and from my research for movement along the air water interface, I have recorded some average velocities of up to 60 microns per second, where as there are some sources saying that diffusion fronts for some common drugs can be on the order of magnitude of tenths or hundreths of microns per second. [1]
[1] P. Colombo, R. Bettini, G. Massimo, P. L. Catellani, P. Santi, and N. A. Peppas, “Drug diffusion front movement is important in drug release control from swellable matrix tablets,” Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, vol. 84, no. 8, pp. 991–997, 1995.