Patent ID: 9642814
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: A61K,A61P,A61Q,B01J,C12N,G21K

Claim:
1. A method of encapsulating biological material in a 3-dimensional hydrogel matrix, said method comprising: providing a hydrogel precursor solution, said solution comprising a hydrogel precursor compound, said biological material, and a divalent cation selected from the group consisting of calcium, barium, strontium, and combinations thereof, dispersed or dissolved in a solvent system; combining said hydrogel precursor solution with alginate to initiate gelation of said alginate and yield core/shell microparticles, each core/shell microparticle comprising an alginate shell and a liquid core comprising said hydrogel precursor solution; crosslinking said hydrogel precursor compound in said liquid core to yield core/shell crosslinked microparticles, each core/shell crosslinked microparticle comprising said alginate shell and a core comprising a 3-dimensional hydrogel matrix and said biological material, said biological material being entrapped in said hydrogel matrix; and removing said alginate shell to yield self-sustaining hydrogel microbeads, each hydrogel microbead comprising said 3-dimensional hydrogel matrix and biological material entrapped therein.