Biodegradable and multifunctional polymer micro-tubes for targeting photothermal therapy

Untethered Microrobots for Active Drug Delivery: From Rational Design to Clinical Settings

Recent advances of untethered microrobots, which navigate the complex regions in vivo for therapeutics, have presented promising multiple applications on future healthcare. Microrobots used for active drug delivery system (DDS) have been demonstrated for advanced targeting distribution, improved delivery efficiency, and reduced systemic side effects. In this review, the therapeutic benefits of active DDS are presented compared to the traditional passive DDS, which illustrate the historical reasons for choosing active DDS. An integrated 5D radar chart analysis model containing the core capabilities of the active DDS is innovatively proposed. It would be a practical tool for measurement and mapping of the field of active delivery, followed by the evolutions and bottlenecks of each technical module. The comprehensive consideration of microrobots before clinical application is also discussed from the aspects of robot ethics, dosage, quality control and stability control in actual production. Gastrointestinal and blood administration, as two major clinical scenes of drug delivery, are discussed in detail as examples of the potential bedside applications of active DDS. Finally, combined with the reported analysis model, the current status and future outlook from the translation prospect to the clinical scenes of microrobots are provided.

Nano-and Micromotors Designed for Cancer Therapy

Research on nano- and micromotors has evolved into a frequently cited research area with innovative technology envisioned for one of current humanities' most deadly problems: cancer. The development of cancer targeting drug delivery strategies involving nano-and micromotors has been a vibrant field of study over the past few years. This review aims at categorizing recent significant results, classifying them according to the employed propulsion mechanisms starting from chemically driven micromotors, to field driven and biohybrid approaches. In concluding remarks of section 2, we give an insight into shape changing micromotors that are envisioned to have a significant contribution. Finally, we critically discuss which important aspects still have to be addressed and which challenges still lie ahead of us.

Gold modified polydopamine coated mesoporous silica nano-structures for synergetic chemo-photothermal effect

Near infrared (NIR) responsive agents have attracted a great attention in nanomedicine due to their efficient photothermal effect (PTE) and eco-friendly nature. In our study, a novel kind of nanostructure were developed based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) loaded doxorubicin(DOX) core and polydopamine-gold nanoparticles shell (PDA-AuNPs), the system was designed for combined chemo and photothermal therapy into one system. The designed nanostructure were thoroughly characterized to confirm their structure and to ensure their efficiency as cargo delivery system (DDS). The pH controlled release behavior of DOX from the designed nanostructures was investigated, approximately 60% of DOX was released over 48 h. Under NIR irradiation, the nanoparticles exhibited good photothermal stability and a high photothermal conversion efficiency of approximately 49%. Importantly, the MSN@DOX-PDA-AuNPs nanostructures showed a synergetic photo and chemotherapeutic effect, with the enhanced DOX release by 19% over 15 h and 15.42% over 250 min with 4 cycles of NIR laser irradiation. The combined chemo-photothermal in an acidic environment and under NIR irradiation was successfully proved.