Our aim is to exploit newly developed device and material technologies to build drug delivery devices for urological indications. We will demonstrate devices to replace intravesical therapies that require frequent instillations of drug solutions into the bladder and also to develop a similar device that can provide localized drug therapy to the seminal vesicle and the prostate gland. Our drug delivery device will have a significant impact on the quality of life for millions of people that suffer from urinary diseases such as overactive bladder (OAB), interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), and superficial bladder cancer. Our approach is to fabricate passive nonresorbable and resorbable release devices that can be deployed and retrieved by conventional cystoscopic procedures. The soluble drugs used for these applications will be stored in the solid form within the device to maximize drug payload and minimize device size. Release of the drug will be controlled by a combination of micro machined orifice and the water permeability of the materials used to construct the device body. Nonresorbable devices will be designed so that they can be retrieved by minimally invasive procedures and constructed from materials that are already used within the bladder. Fully resorbable devices will be fabricated from new elastomeric materials that have been tested for biocompatibility but have not yet been used for urological purposes. In vivo implantation and release experiments of the device will be employed to demonstrate comparable drug exposure to the current intravesical therapies in use for such conditions.
The drug delivery device that is the subject of this research will have a significant impact on the quality of life for millions of people that suffer from urinary diseases such as overactive bladder (OAB), interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), and superficial bladder cancer.
| Tobias, Irene S; Lee, Heejin; Engelmayr Jr, George C et al. (2010) Zero-order controlled release of ciprofloxacin-HCl from a reservoir-based, bioresorbable and elastomeric device. J Control Release 146:356-62 |
