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UC Riverside researchers tout piezoelectric polymer for drug delivery

May 24, 2021 By Sean Whooley

Piezo picture copy UC Riverside piezoelectric polymer for drug delivery
[Image courtesy of UC Riverside]
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, are touting a polymer-based membrane as a potential drug delivery platform.

The researchers developed the membrane made from threads of a polymer commonly used in vascular sutures, according to the university’s website. The membrane can be loaded with therapeutic drugs and implanted in the body before mechanical forces activate its electric potential, slowly releasing the drugs. The researchers published information on the system in ACS Applied Bio Materials.

Led by UC Riverside associate professor of bioengineering, Jim Nam, the researchers found that poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluro-ethylene), or P(VDF-TrFE) — which can produce an electrical charge under mechanical stress (a property known as piezoelectricity) — has the potential for use as a drug delivery vehicle.

Using electrospinning to produce nanofibers of the polymer that are layered in a thin mat and have optimized sensitivity so that the drug delivery system responds to physiologically safe magnitudes of force but are not triggered by daily activities. The film is embedded in a hydrogel designed to mimic living tissue. At the same time, the researchers maintain the ability to adjust the quantity of the drug being released by varying the applied pressure and duration.

“This piezoelectric nanofiber-based drug delivery system enables localized delivery of drug molecules on demand, which would be useful for diseases or conditions that require long-term, repeated drug administration, such as cancer treatments,” Nam said, according to UC Riverside’s website. “The large surface area-to-volume ratio of nanofibrous structure enables a greater drug loading, leading to a single injection or implantation that lasts longer than conventional drug delivery.”

Filed Under: Drug-Device Combinations, Featured, Hydrogels, Pharmaceuticals, Research & Development Tagged With: University of California Riverside

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About Sean Whooley

Sean Whooley is an associate editor who mainly produces work for MassDevice, Medical Design & Outsourcing and Drug Delivery Business News. He received a bachelor's degree in multiplatform journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or email him at swhooley@wtwhmedia.com.

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