Drug release, biomaterials, medical implants, devices

Biopolymeric polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are fabricated and accumulated by microbes under unbalanced growth conditions, primarily by diverse genera of bacteria. Over the last two decades, microbially engineered PHAs gained substantial interest worldwide owing to their promising wide-range uses in biomedical field as biopolymeric biomaterials. Because of non-hazardous disintegration products, preferred surface alterations, inherent biocompatibility, modifiable mechanical properties, cultivation support for cells, adhesion devoid of carcinogenic impacts, and controllable biodegradability, the PHAs like poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate co-polymers, 3-hydroxybutyrate and 4-hydroxybutyrate co-polymers, etc...

Millions of people worldwide suffer from debilitating, progressive, and often permanent loss of vision without any viable treatment options. The complex physiological barriers of the eye contribute to the difficulty in developing novel therapies by limiting our ability to deliver therapeutics in a sustained and controlled manner; especially when attempting to deliver drugs to the posterior eye or trying to regenerate the diseased retina. Cell-based therapies offer a significant potential advancement in these situations...

Advancement in medical technologies, emergence of new diseases and need for quick and effective treatments have increased the requirement for unique and distinct materials. A plethora of materials in various forms, shapes and sizes have been developed from polymers, metals and ceramics and extensively explored for both in vitro and in vivo applications. When used inside the body, biomaterials include metals, polymers and ceramics typically as implants, scaffolds, drug or gene carriers and also as protective agents...

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the ability of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, to produce effective drug delivery devices and implants that are both identifiable, as well as traceable. Drug delivery devices can potentially be used for drug release in the direct vicinity of target tissues or the selected medication route in a patient-specific manner as required. The identification and traceability of additively manufactured implants can be administered through radiofrequency identification systems...

Medical devices decorated with salicylic acid-based polymer chains (polymeric prodrug) that slowly release this anti-inflammatory and anti-biofilm drug at the implantation site were designed. A "grafting from" method was implemented to directly grow chains of a polymerizable derivative of salicylic acid (2-methacryloyloxy-benzoic acid, 2MBA) onto polypropylene (PP). PP was modified both at bulk and on the surface with poly(2MBA) by means of an oxidative pre-irradiation method ((60)Co source), in order to obtain a grafted polymer in which salicylic acid units were linked by means of labile ester bonds...

In this work we try to address the large interest existing nowadays in the better understanding of the interaction between microbial biofilms and metallic implants. Our aimed was to identify a new preventive strategy to control drug release, biofilm formation and contamination of medical devices with microbes. The transfer and printing of novel bioactive glass-polymer-antibiotic composites by Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation into uniform thin films onto 316 L stainless steel substrates of the type used in implants are reported...

Candida albicansis a leading nosocomial pathogen. Today, candidal biofilms are a significant cause of catheter infections, and such infections are becoming increasingly responsible for the failure of medical-implanted devices.C. albicansforms biofilms in which fungal cells are encased in an autoproduced extracellular polysaccharide matrix. Consequently, the enclosed fungi are protected from antimicrobial agents and host cells, providing a unique niche conducive to robust microbial growth and a harbor for recurring infections...

In vitro and in vivo studies were conducted on omega-3 fatty acid-derived biomaterials to determine their utility as an implantable material for adhesion prevention following soft tissue hernia repair and as a means to allow for the local delivery of antimicrobial or antibiofilm agents. Naturally derived biomaterials offer several advantages over synthetic materials in the field of medical device development. These advantages include enhanced biocompatibility, elimination of risks posed by the presence of toxic catalysts and chemical crosslinking agents, and derivation from renewable resources...

BACKGROUND: In the last 50 years, the use of medical implants has increased dramatically. Failure of implanted devices and biomaterials is a significant source of morbidity and increasing healthcare expenditures. An important cause of implant failure is the host inflammatory response. Recent evidence implicates extracellular ATP as an important inflammatory signaling molecule. A major pathway for release of cytoplasmic ATP into the extracellular space is through connexin hemichannels, which are the unpaired constituents of gap junction intercellular channels...

A paradigm shift for implantable medical devices lies at the confluence between regenerative medicine, where materials remodel and integrate in the biological milieu, and technology, through the use of recently developed material platforms based on biomaterials and bioresorbable technologies such as optics and electronics. The union of materials and technology in this context enables a class of biomedical devices that can be optically or electronically functional and yet harmlessly degrade once their use is complete...

Antiproliferative drugs such as paclitaxel and sirolimus are delivered from stents to inhibit the growth of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) for preventing neointimal hyperplasia. However, these drugs delay the growth of endothelial cells (ECs) as well and cause late stent thrombosis. We recently demonstrated the use of Vitamin-C (l-ascorbic acid, l-AA) over paclitaxel and sirolimus for inhibiting SMCs growth and promoting EC growth simultaneously. In this study, we have investigated the delivery of l-AA from CoCr alloy surfaces for potential use in stents...

Here we present a new method for providing nanostructured drug-loaded polymer films which enable control of film surface morphology and delivery of therapeutic agents. Silicon wafers were employed as models for implanted biomaterials and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles were assembled onto the silicon surface by electrostatic interaction. Monolayers of the PLGA particles were deposited onto the silicon surface upon incubation in an aqueous particle suspension. Particle density and surface coverage of the silicon wafers were varied by altering particle concentration, incubation time in nanoparticle suspension and ionic strength of the suspension...

In this review, we focus on recent developments in biomaterials of poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(lactic acid) (PLA-PEO-PLA) triblock copolymers. This system has been widely explored for a number of applications in controlled and sustained release of drugs and in tissue engineering devices. New insights into self-assembly of these materials have resulted in new PLA-PEOPLA solutions and gels with novel structural, mechanical, and drug release properties. Recent innovations include hydrogels with nanoscale crystalline domains, solutions and gels based on PLA stereocomplexes, and nanoparticle-copolymer assemblies...

In general, biomaterials induce a non-specific host response when implanted in the body. This reaction has the potential to interfere with the function of the implanted materials. One method for controlling the host response is through local, controlled-release of anti-inflammatory agents. Herein, we investigate the spatial and temporal effects of an anti-inflammatory drug on the cellular dynamics of the innate immune response to subcutaneously implanted poly(lactic-co-glycolic) microparticles. Noninvasive fluorescence imaging was used to investigate the influence of dexamethasone drug loading and release kinetics on the local and systemic inhibition of inflammatory cellular activities...

In this study, drug-eluting cochlear implant (CI) electrodes were prepared, and the amount of drug released was determined. Dexamethasone (DEX) (0.25-2% w/w, the weight percent of the final cured polymer) was used as a bioactive agent to suppress postsurgical inflammations upon mixing with a two-part nonrestricted pourable medical-grade silicone elastomer. Batch reproducibility analysis was performed on three consecutive batches. Drug release experiments were accomplished in normal saline medium, where DEX was analyzed via a validated HPLC method...

Surface-induced thrombosis is a major complication in the development of blood-contacting medical devices. Serum albumin has the ability to bind to a wide variety of compounds, including drugs, and neither cells nor proteins adsorb to an albumin-coated surface. These properties of albumin are useful for improving the blood compatibility of biomaterial surfaces. In the present study, we prepared a water-insoluble film by cross-linking pharmaceutical grade recombinant human serum albumin aiming to the clinical applications, and loaded the film with a synthetic antiplatelet drug, cilostazol...

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Conventional dosing methods are frequently unable to deliver the clinical requirement of the patient. The ability to control the delivery of drugs from implanted materials is difficult to achieve, but offers promise in diverse areas such as infection-resistant medical devices and responsive implants for diabetics. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: This review gives a broad overview of recent progress in the use of triggers that can be used to achieve modulation of drug release rates from implantable biomaterials...

Cell and tissue responses to implanted biomaterials often limit their effectiveness and lifetime. This is particularly true for materials implanted into the brain. We present here a new approach for the modification of materials to enable release of multiple agents, which might be useful in modulating tissue responses, without changing the properties of the underlying material, in this case, a silicon probe. Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles (NPs) were assembled onto silicon probe surfaces by electrostatic interactions...

Polyanhydrides are a promising class of biomaterials for use as vaccine adjuvants and as multi-component implants. Their properties can be tailored for such applications as controlled drug release, drug stability, and/or immune regulation (adjuvant effect). Understanding the induction of immunomodulatory mechanisms of this polymer system is important for the design and development of efficacious vaccines and tissue compatible multi-component implantable devices using this polymer system. This study describes the development of a rapid multiplexed method for the investigation of the adjuvanticity of polyanhydride nanospheres and films using murine dendritic cells (DCs)...

This patent review focuses on silicon based materials for drug delivery systems and implant devices devoted to medical applications. The article describes some representative examples of the most depictive silicon based compounds associated with drug release formulations and tissue engineering biomaterials. Ranging from inorganic to organic and hybrid inorganic-organic silicon compounds, the paper referrers to patents describing inventions which make use of the best properties of silicon dioxide, silica aerogel and xerogel, silicon bioactive materials, silicones and ormosils, pointing out the usefulness of each kind of compound within the invention embodiment...