Studying nasal aerosols in microfluidics: opportunities and challenges

Introduction: The nasal route is attracting increasing interest for delivering therapeutics and vaccines. The application of novel in-vitro technologies, such as microfluidic organ-on-chips for relevant nasal drug tests, is highlighted in the literature.
Areas covered: This report highlights the advantages of using microfluidics for studying aerosols, sheds light on the potential challenges and suggests solutions for future research in nasal aerosols studies. This report covers research available at peer-reviewed journal article databases, including PubMed and Scopus from the past 10 years up to September 2025.
Expert opinion: Accurate modeling of the nasal airway microenvironment, including airflow and the associated mechanical stresses, is necessary to replicate the realistic interaction between aerosol particles and their surrounding geometries as they traverse complex respiratory pathways through the nose. Novel measures and techniques to complement organ-on-chip devices will be critical to replicating the transport and deposition of aerosols in realistic nasal airways. Future research may focus on the development of more powerful tools that enable high-throughput examinations of nasal aerosols, delivering simultaneous insights into particle behavior and tissue responses.