Nanocomposite thin films for triggerable drug delivery

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Traditional drug release systems normally rely on a passive delivery of therapeutic compounds, which can be partially programmed, prior to injection or implantation, through variations in the material composition. With this strategy, the drug release kinetics cannot be remotely modified and thus adapted to changing therapeutic needs. To overcome this issue, drug delivery systems able to respond to external stimuli are highly desirable, as they allow a high level of temporal and spatial control over drug release kinetics, in an operator-dependent fashion.

Areas covered: On-demand drug delivery systems actually represent a frontier in this field and are attracting an increasing interest at both research and industrial level. Stimuli-responsive thin films, enabled by nanofillers, hold a tremendous potential in the field of triggerable drug delivery systems. The inclusion of responsive elements in homogeneous or heterogeneous thin film-shaped polymeric matrices strengthens and/or adds intriguing properties to conventional (bare) materials in film shape.

Expert opinion: This Expert Opinion review aims to discuss the approaches currently pursued to achieve an effective on-demand drug delivery, through nanocomposite thin films. Different triggering mechanisms allowing a fine control on drug delivery are described, together with current challenges and possible future applications in therapy and surgery.

KEYWORDS:

• Nanocomposite
• thin film
• controllable drug delivery
• remote triggering
• stimuli-responsive material

Article highlights

• Thin films are conformable matrices, with a thickness ranging from few nm to hundreds of µm, usable as ‘patch-shaped’ reservoirs for delivering drugs, supporting their fast delivery or long residence time;

• Nanofillers inside thin film matrices provide rather inert matrices with new functionalities, thus making them responsive to exogenous stimuli;

• Drug delivery systems based on nanocomposite thin films can be activated by using different external triggers, such as electrical field, ultrasound, light and magnetic fields, activating the drug release by exploiting the stimulus-nanofiller interaction;

• Nanocomposite thin films represent promising tools able to reduce doses and side effects respect to systemically injected compounds;

• The use of these platforms in a clinical environment is still hampered by technical limitations and biocompatibility issues, but several steps have been moved on toward their use as tools for on-demand treatment of chronic diseases, able to adapt to changing patient needs.

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the M2Neural project (Multifunctional Materials for Advanced Neural Interfaces), funded in the FP7-M-ERA.NET Translational framework.