Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2016 Jan 7;5(1):175-84. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201500357. Epub 2015 Oct 26.
Topical administration of drugs and growth factors in a controlled fashion can improve the healing process during skin disorders and chronic wounds. To achieve this goal, a dermal patch is engineered that utilizes thermoresponsive drug microcarriers encapsulated within a hydrogel layer attached to a flexible heater with integrated electronic heater control circuitry. The engineered patch conformally covers the wound area and enables controlled drug delivery by electronically adjusting the temperature of the hydrogel layer. The drugs are encapsulated inside microparticles in order to control their release rates. These monodisperse thermoresponsive microparticles containing active molecules are fabricated using a microfluidic device. The system is used to release two different active molecules with molecular weights similar to drugs and growth factors and their release profiles are characterized. This platform is a key step towards engineering smart and closed loop systems for topical applications.
通过控制方式对药物和生长因子进行局部给药，可以改善皮肤疾病和慢性创面的愈合过程。为实现这一目标，设计了一种透皮贴剂，它利用热响应性药物微载体包封在附着于带有集成电子加热控制电路的柔性加热器的水凝胶层内。设计的贴剂可贴合地覆盖创面区域，并通过电子调节水凝胶层的温度来实现药物的控制释放。药物被包裹在微颗粒内以控制其释放速率。这些含有活性分子的单分散热响应性微颗粒是使用微流控装置制造的。该系统用于释放两种分子量类似于药物和生长因子的不同活性分子，并对其释放曲线进行了特征描述。该平台是实现用于局部应用的智能和闭环系统工程的关键一步。
