Chronic diseases such as hypertension and rheumatoid arthritis are persistent ailments that require personalized lifelong therapeutic management. However, the difficulty of adherence to strict dosing schedule compromises therapeutic efficacy and safety. Moreover, the conventional one-size-fits-all treatment approach is increasingly challenged due to the intricacies of inter- and intra-individual variabilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImplantable devices may provide a superior means for hormone delivery through maintaining serum levels within target therapeutic windows. Zero-order administration has been shown to reach an equilibrium with metabolic clearance, resulting in a constant serum concentration and bioavailability of released hormones. By exploiting surface-to-molecule interaction within nanochannel membranes, it is possible to achieve a long-term, constant diffusive release of agents from implantable reservoirs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The goal of testosterone replacement is to provide long-term physiological supplementation at sufficient levels to mitigate the symptoms of hypogonadism.
Aim: The objective of this work is to determine if the implantable nanochannel delivery system (nDS) can present an alternative delivery strategy for the long-term sustained and constant release of testosterone.
Methods: A formulation of common testosterone esters (F1) was developed to enable nanochannel delivery of the low water soluble hormone.
General adoption of advanced treatment protocols such as chronotherapy will hinge on progress in drug delivery technologies that provide precise temporal control of therapeutic release. Such innovation is also crucial to future medicine approaches such as telemedicine. Here we present a nanofluidic membrane technology capable of achieving active and tunable control of molecular transport through nanofluidic channels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFine control of molecular transport through microfluidic systems can be obtained by modulation of an applied electrical field across channels with the use of electrodes. In BioMEMS designed for biological fluids and in vivo applications, electrodes must be biocompatible, biorobust and stable. In this work, the analysis and characterization of platinum (Pt) electrodes integrated on silicon substrates for biomedical applications are presented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Healthc Mater
February 2015
Primary or secondary hypogonadism results in a range of signs and symptoms that compromise quality of life and requires life-long testosterone replacement therapy. In this study, an implantable nanochannel system is investigated as an alternative delivery strategy for the long-term sustained and constant release of testosterone. In vitro release tests are performed using a dissolution set up, with testosterone and testosterone:2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (TES:HPCD) 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratio complexes release from the implantable nanochannel system and quantify by HPLC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Control Release
December 2013
Drug delivery is essential to achieve effective therapy. Herein we report on the only implantable nanochannel membrane with geometrically defined channels as small as 2.5 nm that achieves constant drug delivery in vivo.
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