Acoustically Mediated Controlled Drug Release and Targeted Therapy with Degradable 3D Porous Magnetic Microrobots

Abstract

Microrobots for targeted drug delivery are of great interest due to their minimal invasiveness and wireless controllability. Here, a magnetically driven porous degradable microrobot (PDM) is reported that consists of a 3D printed helical soft polymeric chassis made of a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate and pentaerythritol triacrylate matrix containing magnetite nanoparticles and the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The encapsulated Fe₃ O₄ nanoparticles render the PDM a precise wireless magnetic actuation by means of rotating magnetic fields (RMFs). The increased surface area of the porous PDM facilitates the acoustically induced drug release due to a higher response to the acoustic energy. The drug release profile from the PDM can be selected on command from three different modes, referred to herein as natural, burst, and constant, by differentiating the ultrasound exposure condition. Finally, in vitro test results reveal different therapeutic results for each release mode. The observed great reduction of cancer cell viability in the burst- and constant-release modes confirms that ultrasound with the proposed PDM can enhance the therapeutic effect by increasing drug concentration and sonoporation.

Keywords: controlled release; magnetic actuation; microrobots; targeted therapy; ultrasound therapy.