PROJECT
Recently, the most frequently reported causes of death in Poland are cardiovascular diseases. However, attention should be paid to the fact that at the turn of 1980 and 2010, the incidence of cancer increased twice. In 2013, over 340,000 patients were registered in oncology departments. Often, tumors are located in hardly operable areas. For this reason, microparticles made from biodegradable polymers are used in medicine. These structures, with precisely selected diameters, can be used to block (embolize) blood vessels which supply nutrients and oxygen to cancer tissue. The introduction of microparticles will reduce the size of the tumor. That will allows surgeon to more accurately separate the cancer from healthy tissue. As a result, it will lead to smaller loss of unchanged tissue. In case of brain tumors, this may be a decisive factor to the patient healthy recovery.
The aim of the research is to develop a method for producing microparticles, with a diameter of about 10μm, from biodegradable polymers, such as polylactide (PLA) or polycaprolactone (PCL).