Design of nonionic micelle-laden polysaccharide hydrogels for controlled delivery of hydrophobic drugs.

The incorporation of micelle self-assembly in hydrogels has been used to produce self-healing materials, materials with tunable mechanical properties, and hydrophilic or hydrophobic drug delivery systems. However, little is known about the connection among formulation - structure - properties (particularly transport) in these systems. This connection is explored in alkyl ethoxylate micelle-laden gellan gum hydrogels used as delivery system for the hydrophobic drug dexamethasone.