Recent Advances in Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

Drug delivery systems play a significant role in treating various diseases related to the primary organs of the body such as the eyes, brain, stomach, etc. Drug delivery systems deal with release and absorption of the drug at the desired site as well as spread of drug across the membrane. The real challenge in conventional drug delivery systems is the failure to have controlled drug delivery at the desired rate and time. The realizable solution is to scale down drug delivery mechanisms from macro to micro technology-based systems such as micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). MEMS technology is extensively used for various biomedical applications such as lab on chip (LOC), point-of-care devices, genomics, tissues engineering, protein analysis, etc. The advantages of MEMS technology are high efficacy, miniaturization, automation, and precise control of parameters. It also helps us in designing implantable devices and drug delivery in a controlled manner and having minimal side effects to other parts of the body. The chapter reviews the design considerations, challenges, and opportunities related to drug delivery for brain infusion and ocular drugs. Transdermal drug delivery for microneedle applications will also be reported. Fabrication of biomaterials, biocompatibility, and reliability of implantable devices will also be discussed. Finally, the chapter ends with a summary of future scope and limitations of drug delivery systems.