Optimal loading of hydrogel-based drug-delivery systems

Drug-loaded hydrogels provide a means to deliver pharmaceutical agents specific sites within the body at controlled rate. The aim of this paper is understand how drug release can be achieved by tuning initial distribution molecules in hydrogel. A mathematical model presented for spherical drug-loaded captures nonlinear elasticity polymer network and thermodynamics swelling. By assuming that are dilute, equations hydrogel swelling transport partially decouple. fast optimisation method developed accurately compute optimal concentration minimising error between numerical drug-release profile target profile. taking efflux piecewise constant, configuration consists central core with isolated packets near free boundary highly effective mitigating burst effect, where large amount rapidly released into environment. stiffness used further tune rate release. Although stiffer gels lead less hence reduce diffusivity, kinetics faster than soft due decreased distance must travel reach surface.