3D Printed personalized drug delivery system based on magnetically porous triggerable elastomers.

Personalized medicine is an emerging field in healthcare which aims to tailor the drug and its delivery in an individualized approach aiming to improve the treatments efficiency. Drug delivery systems are used to regulate the medication dosage in time to optimize its therapeutic outcomes while minimizing its side effects. Several techniques have been developed to achieve controlled drug release, these include passive devices engineered to respond to stimuli such as temperature, pH or enzymes. Passive drug delivery devices include functionalized micro particles, hydrogels, liposomes etc. The main disadvantage of passive delivery devices is that although they can release drug at specific time intervals, they lack of controllability. However active drug delivery devices can be used as wearables and can be activated via external stimuli representing a step forward in the quest for the development of advanced drug delivery systems. In this paper, we present the development of externally triggered active wearable drug delivery systems. Our design is based on a cost-effective 3D printing-based method and the development of magnetically porous triggerable elastomers containing the patient’s medication. Magnetic fields in the range of 100 to 350 mT are used to control the compression of the triggerable elastomer. Such magnetic fields are used to dynamically adjust the drug release patterns, ensuring optimal delivery at the target site. The devices compliance is tested showing consistent flexibility and recovery of its original shape even after multiple rounds of deformation upon the presence of the control magnetic fields. This resulted in a precise and repeatable drug delivery dosage demonstrating that our approach can enhance the precision and efficiency of drug delivery. This research advances the development of wearable drug delivery technologies, paving the way for personalized treatments for achieving improved patient treatment outcomes.