Alginate microspheres for biosensing, drug delivery and MRI

The research aims to develop a multifunctional system for, implantable biosensing, drug delivery and MRI. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) synthesized by co-precipitation were loaded with sensor and drug into alginate microspheres using a droplet generator. The multifunctional system was characterized using Microscopy, SEM, TEM, XRD, VSM and MRI. MNP had size in the range of 5-15 nm. Biosensor, Diclo, and MNP loaded alginate microspheres were found to be of size 10 μm. Biosensing studies have indicated an excellent glucose response curve with regression coefficient of 0.978. In vitro Diclo release shows that MNP loading in alginate microspheres increases the burst release and decreases the duration of release. Super-paramagnetism was confirmed by VSM (1.368 emu/gm) with no hysterisis and MRI showed significant contrast for different concentraions. The system showed a great potential in biosensing concurrent drug delivery and visualization.