Optimal loading of hydrogel-based drug-delivery systems

DOI10.1016/J.APM.2022.08.008zbMATH Open1505.92064arXiv2202.02025OpenAlexW4293720006MaRDI QIDQ2110798FDOQ2110798

Matthew J. Penn, Matthew G. Hennessy

Publication date: 23 December 2022

Published in: Applied Mathematical Modelling (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Drug-loaded hydrogels provide a means to deliver pharmaceutical agents to specific sites within the body at a controlled rate. The aim of this paper is to understand how controlled drug release can be achieved by tuning the initial distribution of drug molecules in a hydrogel. A mathematical model is presented for a spherical drug-loaded hydrogel. The model captures the nonlinear elasticity of the polymer network and thermodynamics of swelling. By assuming that the drug molecules are dilute, the equations for hydrogel swelling and drug transport partially decouple. A fast optimisation method is developed to accurately compute the optimal initial drug concentration by minimising the error between the numerical drug-release profile and a target profile. By taking the target drug efflux to be piecewise constant, the optimal initial configuration consists of a central drug-loaded core with isolated drug packets near the free boundary of the hydrogel. The optimal initial drug concentration is highly effective at mitigating the burst effect, where a large amount of drug is rapidly released into the environment. The hydrogel stiffness can be used to further tune the rate of drug release. Although stiffer gels lead to less swelling and hence reduce the drug diffusivity, the drug-release kinetics are faster than for soft gels due to the decreased distance that drug molecules must travel to reach the free surface.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.02025

zbMATH Keywords

optimisationdrug deliveryhydrogelsburst effect

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Medical applications (general) (92C50) Biochemistry, molecular biology (92C40) Applications of optimal control and differential games (49N90) PDE constrained optimization (numerical aspects) (49M41)

Cites Work

• Convex functions and their applications. A contemporary approach
• A theory of coupled diffusion and large deformation in polymeric gels
• A coupled theory of fluid permeation and large deformations for elastomeric materials
• Drug Diffusion in a Swollen Polymer
• Drug Release from Viscoelastic Swelling Polymeric Platforms

Cited In (1)

• Optimization of targeted drug delivery from systems of microneedles

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