Hydrogels drug delivery applications

Another class of environmentally sensitive materials that are being targeted for use in drug delivery applications is thermally sensitive polymers. This type of hydrogel exhibits temperature-sensitive swelling behavior... 

In the last few years there have been new creative methods of preparation of novel hydrophilic polymers and hydrogels that may represent the future in drug delivery applications. The focus in these studies has been the development of polymeric structures with precise molecular architectures. Stupp et al. (1997) synthesized self-assembled triblock copolymer, nanostructures that may have very promising applications in controlled drug delivery. Novel biodegradable polymers, such as polyrotaxanes, have been developed that have particularly exciting molecular assemblies for drug delivery (Ooya and Yui, 1997). 

West, J.L. and J.A. Hubbell, Photopolymerized hydrogel materials for drug delivery applications. Reactive Polymers, 1995, 25, 139-147. 

Swelling is one of the functional properties used to characterize biopolymers required for modified or controlled drug delivery systems. The biopolymers employed for modified drug delivery applications are hydrogels that form three-dimensional polymeric networks when they come into contact with water, they absorb many times their weight of water but they do not dissolve. Swelling of the ceUulosics in different biorelevant media must be established. 

Biodegradable Polymers Used in Preparation of Hydrogel Drug Delivery Systems and Their Application... 

Ravindra, S., Antoine, F. M., Rajinikanth, V., Varaprasad, K., Nara3 na Reddy, N., Mohana Raju, K. (2012). Development and characterization of curcumin loaded silver nanoparticle hydrogels for antibacterial and drug delivery applications. I. Inora. Oraanomet. Polvm.. 22, 1254-1262. 

Different polymer properties are required for different drug delivery applications, and these necessitate a diverse array of characterization methods. For example, hydrogels and other implants should be biocompatible and have sufficient mechanical strength to withstand forces involved during implantation as well as in the in vivo environment... 

Ramanan, R. M., CheUamuthu, P., Tang, L. Nguyen, K. T. (2006) Development of a temperature-sensitive composite hydrogel for drug delivery applications. Biotechnol Prog, 22, 118-25. 

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