Externally triggered drug delivery systems
Huiyang Hu, Prabhakar Busa, Yue Zhao, Chao Zhao
Abstract
Externally triggered drug delivery systems empower patients or healthcare providers to utilize external stimuli to initiate drug release from implanted systems. This approach holds significant potential for clinical disease management, offering appealing features like enhanced patient adherence through the elimination of needles and medication reminders. Additionally, it facilitates personalized medicine by granting patients control over the timing, dosage, and duration of drug release. Moreover, it enables precise drug delivery to targeted locations where external stimuli are applied. Advances in materials science, nanotechnology, chemistry, and biology have been pivotal in driving the development of these systems. This review presents an overview of the progress in research on drug release systems responsive to external stimuli, such as light, ultrasound, magnetic fields, and temperature. It discusses the construction strategies of externally triggered drug delivery systems, the mechanisms governing triggered drug release, and their applications in disease management. • The design strategies and the principles of external stimulus-triggered drug delivery systems are described. • The characteristics of light, ultrasound, magnetic field, and temperature-triggered drug delivery systems are summarized. • The prospects and challenges of external stimulus-triggered drug delivery systems in clinical applications are described.