Coated hard capsules are becoming increasingly important for a number of reasons such as administration of new active ingredients, oral vaccination, colon drug delivery or their use in preclinical and clinical trials. The independency of coating composition on capsules filling is the major advantage of this dosage form. In our study, two types of hard capsules (gelatin and hypromellose) were co...

The hydrodynamic interaction between two nonspherical capsules suspended in a simple shear flow is studied numerically using a front-tracking method. The capsules are enclosed by thin shells which develop in-plane tensions and bending moments due to a preferred three-dimensional unstressed configuration. Computations are performed for capsules with spherical, oblate spheroidal, and biconcave un...

Alginate-based microcapsules are being proposed for treatment of many types of diseases. A major obstacle however in the successes is that these capsules are having large lab-to-lab variations. To make the process more reproducible, we propose to cover the surface of alginate capsules with diblock polymers that can form polymer brushes. In the present study, we describe the stepwise considerati...

The inactive ingredients contained in propranolol hydrochloride extended-release capsules, USP are ethylcellulose, gelatin, hypromellose, microcrystalline cellulose, sodium lauryl sulfate and titanium dioxide. In addition, propranolol hydrochloride extended-release capsules, USP 60 mg, 120 mg, and 160 mg capsules contain FD&C Blue No. 1. Propranolol hydrochloride extendedrelease capsules, USP a...

Polymeric multilayer capsules have emerged as a novel drug delivery platform. These capsules are fabricated through layer-by-layer sequential deposition of polymers onto a sacrificial core template followed by the decomposition of this core yielding hollow capsules. The resulting nanometer thin membrane is permselective, allowing diffusion of water and ions but excluding larger molecules. Moreo...

Ultra thin multilayer capsules are attractive and stable systems capable of delivering the bioactives. Ultra thin multilayer capsules consist of polyelectrolytic materials that are formed in the presence of a template. This is achieved through layer-by-layer adsorption of oppositely charged macromolecules on to colloidal particles. Upon extraction, the resulting cavities retain affi nity for th...

We report on naturally inspired hydrogel capsules with pH-induced transitions from discoids to oblate ellipsoids and their interactions with cells. We integrate characteristics of erythrocytes such as discoidal shape, hollow structure, and elasticity with reversible pH-responsiveness of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) to design a new type of drug delivery carrier to be potentially triggered by ch...

A self-healing approach for optically transparent thermoplastic polymers, based on plasticizer-induced solvent welding, is reported. For the specifi c system investigated, dibutylphthalate (DBP) fi lled urea-formaldehyde capsules are dispersed in a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) matrix. Upon a damage event, DBP is released into the crack, and locally plasticizes and swells the polymer, enabling ...