Nanofluidic microsystem for sustained intraocular delivery of therapeutics

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2018.11.002
• Publication Date: 2018-11-22T08:24:22Z
• Authors: Nicola Di Trani; Priya Jain; Corrine Ying Xuan...; Jeremy S. Ho; Giacomo Bruno; Antonia Susnjar; Fernanda Paola Po...; Antons Sizovs; R. Lyle Hood; Zachary W. Smith; Andrea Ballerini; Carly S. Filgueira; Alessandro Grattoni
• Keywords: Drug Implants; 0301 basic medicine; Diabetic Retinopathy; Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems; Dexamethasone; Macular Edema; 12. Responsible consumption; 3. Good health; Uveitis; 03 medical and health sciences; Lens Implantation, Intraocular; Humans; Nanotechnology

Globally, 145.2 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision impairment or blindness due to preventable or treatable causes. However, patient adherence to topical or intravitreal treatment is a leading cause of poor outcomes. To address this issue, we designed an intraocularly implantable device called the nanofluidic Vitreal System for Therapeutic Administration (nViSTA) for continuous and controlled drug release based on a nanochannel membrane that obviates the need for pumps or actuation. In vitro release analysis demonstrated that our device achieves sustained release of bimatoprost (BIM) and dexamethasone (DEX) at concentrations within clinically relevant therapeutic window. In this proof of concept study, we constructed an anatomically similar in silico human eye model to simulate DEX release from our implant and gain insight into intraocular pharmacokinetics profile. Overall, our drug-agnostic intraocular implant represents a potentially viable platform for long-term treatment of various chronic ophthalmologic diseases, including diabetic macular edema and uveitis.