pp. 1301-1313
S&M3247 Research Paper of Special Issue https://doi.org/10.18494/SAM4167 Published: April 11, 2023 Three-dimensional-printed Refillable Drug Delivery Device for Long-term Sustained Drug Delivery to Retina [PDF] Takeshi Hori, Yuya Ito, Bibek Raut, Serge Ostrovidov, Yuji Nashimoto, Nobuhiro Nagai, Toshiaki Abe, and Hirokazu Kaji (Received October 12, 2022; Accepted December 23, 2022) Keywords: drug delivery system, eye, retina, 3D printing, age-related macular degeneration
As the aging population increases worldwide, the number of patients with retinal diseases requiring long-term treatment, such as for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is expected to increase. Intravitreal injection is the most common clinical treatment method for AMD, but a less invasive method and continuous drug administration are desirable. Here, we report a 3D-printed refillable drug delivery system (DDS) that fits the curvature of the eyeball. This DDS has three parts: a drug injection port for drug reloading, a drug release port with an opening for unidirectional release into the sclera, and a drug tank for drug retention. We evaluated in vitro the sustained release of fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugate (FITC)-albumin used as a model drug from 20 wt% poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel placed at the release port over 200 days. Furthermore, we showed that ten successive drug refills could be carried out without problems. Finally, a smaller version of the DDS was implanted in vivo in rabbit sclera, which showed sufficient fluorescence release in the retina and the choroid/RPE homogenate. The present DDS with drug reloading capacity shows excellent promise as a minimally invasive drug administration tool for the long-term treatment of retinal diseases.
Corresponding author: Hirokazu KajiThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Cite this article Takeshi Hori, Yuya Ito, Bibek Raut, Serge Ostrovidov, Yuji Nashimoto, Nobuhiro Nagai, Toshiaki Abe, and Hirokazu Kaji, Three-dimensional-printed Refillable Drug Delivery Device for Long-term Sustained Drug Delivery to Retina, Sens. Mater., Vol. 35, No. 4, 2023, p. 1301-1313. |