Biodegradable drug delivery devices

In an earlier investigation by the authors (1) biodegradable poly(ester-amides) were prepared and used as drug delivery devices for internally administered bioactive agents. Unsaturated analogs, (II), were prepared by Chu et al. (2). 

Soppimath, K. S., T. M. Aminabhavi, et al. (2001). Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles as drug delivery devices. J Control Release 70(1-2) 1-20. 

Acrylated terminated multi-block micelle-forming biodegradable macromo-lecular hydrogels, (VI), prepared by Pathak [6], were used in drug delivery devices and as tissue coatings. 

Okabe K, Kimura H, Okabe J, Kato A, Kunou N, Ogura Y. Intraocular tissue distribution of betamethasone after intrascleral administration using a non-biodegradable sustained drug delivery device. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2003 44 2702-2707. 

Biodegradability is often an important consideration in the development of biomedical, pharmaceutical, and agricultural products for a number of applications. Biodegradable polymers have been formulated for uses such as controlled release and drug-delivery devices, surgical sutures, scaffolds for tissue regeneration, vascular grafts and stents, artificial skin, and orthopedic implants. 

Biodegradable or resorbable ceramics 1. As drug delivery devices... 

Biodegradable ocular drug delivery devices are composed of biocompatible polymers, which degrade into nontoxic byproducts, or polymers that solubilize in vivo and can be eUminaled safely by the human body. 

Soppimath, K.S., Aminabhavi, T.M., Kulkami, A.R., Rudzinski, W.E. Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles as drug delivery devices. J. Contr. Release, 70, 1, 2001. 

Bulk characterization yields information on the macroscopic properties of the biomaterial such as thermal, mechanical, solubility, optical, and dielectric properties. Surface characterization yields morphological information that is critical for interfacing the implant or drug delivery device with the host tissue. This could be achieved by microscopic and spectfoscopic methods. Next in the hierarchy is the characterization of processes such as biodegradation mechanism and kinetics under biomimetic in vitro conditions. Cases of implanted device failure need to be assessed by systematic interrogation of explanted medical devices. After knowing the basic characteristics of the biomaterial, real-time investigation of in vivo processes plays a major role in the successful journey of an implant. 

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