Injectable oxygen delivery is an emerging technology that presents an opportunity for improved patient care in a number of medical disciplines. Here, we report on the fabrication and characterization of novel encapsulated oxygen microbubbles (OMBs) designed for intravenous injection. The encapsulation is designed to mimic the alveolar lining (lung surfactant). The nano-thick encapsulation provided OMBs small enough for transcapillary passage: 99% of the microbubbles were less than 3-�m diameter, and less than 1% of the oxygen was encapsulated in microbubbles greater than 8-�m diameter. The OMBs were remarkably stable, losing less than 40% of the encapsulated gas over 12 days. Upon injection into an oxygen-depleted saline solution, the protein OMBs rapidly equilibrated by releasing their oxygen core. These results indicate that protein microbubbles may serve as a suitable platform for direct injection of bioactive and therapeutic gases.

Design of lipid-coated microbubbles for oxygen delivery

245th National Meeting (2013)

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