Drug Delivery across Barriers to the Middle and Inner Ear
Zipei Zhang, Xiyu Li, Wei Zhang, Daniel S. Kohane
Abstract
The prevalence of ear disorders has spurred efforts to develop drug delivery systems to treat these conditions. Here, recent advances in drug delivery systems that access the ear through the tympanic membrane (TM) are reviewed. Such methods are either non-invasive (placed on the surface of the TM), or invasive (placed in the middle ear, ideally on the round window [RW]). The major hurdles to otic drug delivery are identified and highlighted the representative examples of drug delivery systems used for drug delivery across the TM to the middle and (crossing the RW also) inner ear.
Topics & Concepts
Drug deliveryInner earRound windowMiddle earDrugMaterials scienceMedicineNanotechnologyBiomedical engineeringPharmacologySurgeryAnatomyEar Surgery and Otitis MediaAcoustic Wave Resonator TechnologiesOcular Surface and Contact Lens