Emerging self-regulated micro/nano drug delivery devices: A step forward towards intelligent diagnosis and therapy

Abstract

Self-regulated micro/nano drug delivery devices are smart drug delivery platforms that can sense the changes of physiological indexes and adjust their own properties or performance in response to the stimuli, especially the internal biological signals. Due to the great convenience and treatment outcomes they can bring to the patients who are suffering from chronic diseases, self-regulated drug delivery devices have drawn wide research interests. Armed with advanced micro/nanotechnology and mechanical/electronic fabrication technique as well as a better understanding of physiological characteristics and biomarkers, numerous breakthroughs have been made in developing closed-loop regulating micro/nanodevices. Here we survey the current platforms for self-regulated drug delivery, introduce their applications in different diseases and summarize strategies to design self-regulated micro/nano drug delivery devices.