Transforming Medicine: Cutting-Edge Applications of Nanoscale Materials in Drug Delivery

Abstract

Since their inception in the early 1960s, the development and use of nanoscale materials have progressed tremendously, and their roles in diverse fields ranging from human health to energy and electronics are undeniable. The application of nanotechnology inventions has revolutionized many aspects of everyday life including various medical applications and specifically drug delivery systems, maximizing the therapeutic efficacy of the contained drugs by means of bioavailability enhancement or minimization of adverse effects. In this review, we utilize the CAS Content Collection, a vast repository of scientific information extracted from journal and patent publications, to analyze trends in nanoscience research relevant to drug delivery in an effort to provide a comprehensive and detailed picture of the use of nanotechnology in this field. We examine the publication landscape in the area to provide insights into current knowledge advances and developments. We review the major classes of nanosized drug delivery systems, their delivery routes, and targeted diseases. We outline the most discussed concepts and assess the advantages of various nanocarriers. The objective of this review is to provide a broad overview of the evolving landscape of current knowledge regarding nanosized drug delivery systems, to outline challenges, and to evaluate growth opportunities. The merit of the review stems from the extensive, wide-ranging coverage of the most up-to-date scientific information, allowing unmatched breadth of landscape analysis and in-depth insights.

Keywords: drug delivery; exosome; micelle; nanocarrier; nanocrystal; nanoemulsion; nanoparticle; nanotube.

Figure 1

(A) Schematic representation of various types of nano-DDSs (some individual icons sourced from www.biorender.com). (B) Percentage of documents (journal articles and patents, blue bars) and relative growth (orange line; calculated as the increase in the number of documents in the last three years normalized over the total number of documents for the given nano-DDS type) related to various nano-DDS types; the red rectangles indicate the DDS represented on the right. (C) Distribution of documents related to NP (with the lipid, polymeric, and metal NP subcategory shares), micelle (with polymer and lipid shares), and nanotube (with carbon nanotube share) DDSs.

Figure 2

(A) Major substance classes related to nano-DDSs as presented in the CAS Content Collection in the period 2003–2022. (B) Distribution between journal articles (blue) and patents (yellow) for major substance classes. (C) Representative top substances of the major classes related to the nano-DDS. (D) Substance type distribution for the nano-DDS. (E) Publication growth rate of the major substance classes related to the nano-DDS for the 5-year period 2018–2022.

Figure 3

(A) Distribution of nano-DDS-related publications in the CAS Content Collection with respect to targeted diseases. (B) Heat map of the relationship between various types of nano-DDSs and the diseases to which they have been applied.

Figure 4

(A) Distribution of documents in the CAS Content Collection related to various administration routes of the nano-DDSs. (B) Sankey diagram depicting co-occurrences between the type of nano-DDS and its administration routes.