Molecular Communication for Gastroretentive Drug Delivery

TL;DR

This paper introduces a physics-based model for controlled drug release from bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) with polymer coating, validated by experimental data, aiding future design of BNC-based drug delivery systems.

Contribution

A novel, geometry-aware model for drug release from BNC with polymer coating, bridging the gap between feasibility studies and practical design.

Findings

Model accurately predicts drug release profiles.

Polymer coating effectively controls drug diffusion.

Experimental validation confirms model reliability.

Abstract

Recently, bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), a biological material produced by non-pathogenic bacteria that possesses excellent material properties for various medical applications, has received increased interest as a carrier system for drug delivery. However, the vast majority of existing studies on drug release from BNC are feasibility studies with modeling and design aspects remaining largely unexplored. To narrow this research gap, this paper proposes a novel model for the drug release from BNC. Specifically, the drug delivery system considered in this paper consists of a BNC fleece coated with a polymer. The polymer coating is used as an additional diffusion barrier, enabling the controlled release of an active pharmaceutical ingredient. The proposed physics-based model reflects the geometry of the BNC and incorporates the impact of the polymer coating on the drug release. Hence, it can be useful for designing BNC-based drug delivery systems in the future. The accuracy of the model is validated with experimental data obtained in wet lab experiments.