In the pharmaceutical industry micro-encapsulation is often used for drug delivery. By means of controlled and sustained release of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), a better therapeutic effect, less side effects and higher patient convenience / compliance is achieved. Other applications are delivery of poorly soluble APIs, taste masking, targeted delivery, improving stability.
Droplet production with the use of microchannels, otherwise called microfluidic emulsification, is a much-reported method to make uniform and controlled soft matter structures, like emulsions, microcapsules, and microspheres. A wide variety of methods have been reported that are able to produce a controlled droplet size.
Microfluidics is the controlled process of droplet formation out of two or more liquids. The process takes place in channels of only a few microns wide. Once droplets are formed they can be solidified in the channel by extracting the solvent or adding a third liquid, such as a cross-linker.