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Introduction
Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary research field that has created a real hype
about their great and unprecedented role in early diagnosis, accurate detection, and
therapy of various diseases, including cancer. The ability of nanoparticles to present
revolutionary interactions with biomolecules has revolutionized the therapy [1].
Research on nanoparticles (NPs) has flourished in the past decades. The field of
nanotechnology is being considered as the driving force behind consequential
improvements in health as well as in the industrial revolution. NPs’ drug delivery
systems are an intriguing field that has drawn the attraction of innumerable
researchers and engaged them in exploring the potential of NPs as carriers for therapeutic, diagnostic as well as imaging applications [2].
NPs are defined as submicron-sized (10–1000 nm) solid drug carriers prepared
from natural or synthetic biodegradable or non-biodegradable polymers, where the
drug is either encapsulated within the NPs or adsorbed onto its surface [3]. NPs
have been used to enhance and alter the pharmacokinetic as well as pharmacodynamic characteristics of several moieties leading to an ever-increasing research
interest in utilizing NPs as drug delivery systems. NPs offer ingenious therapy by
permitting targeted drug delivery and controlled drug release.
This chapter aims at summarizing various proposed techniques employed for the
fabrication of NPs over the past two decades, great strides made in these methods
over the last decades and highlight the diversity of these techniques with their
advantages and limitations. It is remarkable that during past decades, noteworthy
progress has been made which allowed stepping over the various milestones in
improving existing methods leading to the emergence of techniques that permit the
preparation of large batches of NPs in a reproducible manner. This chapter describes
the comparison of NPs with other drug delivery systems, underlined the basic principles of each technique and the major factors that determine the NPs formation.
Later part of the chapter presents the drying techniques, characteristics of NPs and
their applications in drug delivery.
Advantages and Limitations of NPs
NPs have greater internalization as compared to the MPs [4]. In addition, NPs are
appropriate for the delivery of drugs via intravenous (IV) route due to the small
diameter of the capillaries (5–6 μm) as compared to MPs [5]. NPs show improved
stability both in storage and in a biological system. Their preparation is relatively
easy to scale up. NPs can fabricate a controlled release (CR) formulation. Following
are various advantages of NPs:
• Enhance the aqueous solubility of hydrophobic drugs.
• Protect the drug molecules against degradation.
• It offers the possibility of a prolonged release of the drug.
Z. Iqbal et al.
Introduction
Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary research field that has created a real hype
about their great and unprecedented role in early diagnosis, accurate detection, and
therapy of various diseases, including cancer. The ability of nanoparticles to present
revolutionary interactions with biomolecules has revolutionized the therapy [1].
Research on nanoparticles (NPs) has flourished in the past decades. The field of
nanotechnology is being considered as the driving force behind consequential
improvements in health as well as in the industrial revolution. NPs’ drug delivery
systems are an intriguing field that has drawn the attraction of innumerable
researchers and engaged them in exploring the potential of NPs as carriers for therapeutic, diagnostic as well as imaging applications [2].
NPs are defined as submicron-sized (10–1000 nm) solid drug carriers prepared
from natural or synthetic biodegradable or non-biodegradable polymers, where the
drug is either encapsulated within the NPs or adsorbed onto its surface [3]. NPs
have been used to enhance and alter the pharmacokinetic as well as pharmacodynamic characteristics of several moieties leading to an ever-increasing research
interest in utilizing NPs as drug delivery systems. NPs offer ingenious therapy by
permitting targeted drug delivery and controlled drug release.
This chapter aims at summarizing various proposed techniques employed for the
fabrication of NPs over the past two decades, great strides made in these methods
over the last decades and highlight the diversity of these techniques with their
advantages and limitations. It is remarkable that during past decades, noteworthy
progress has been made which allowed stepping over the various milestones in
improving existing methods leading to the emergence of techniques that permit the
preparation of large batches of NPs in a reproducible manner. This chapter describes
the comparison of NPs with other drug delivery systems, underlined the basic principles of each technique and the major factors that determine the NPs formation.
Later part of the chapter presents the drying techniques, characteristics of NPs and
their applications in drug delivery.
Advantages and Limitations of NPs
NPs have greater internalization as compared to the MPs [4]. In addition, NPs are
appropriate for the delivery of drugs via intravenous (IV) route due to the small
diameter of the capillaries (5–6 μm) as compared to MPs [5]. NPs show improved
stability both in storage and in a biological system. Their preparation is relatively
easy to scale up. NPs can fabricate a controlled release (CR) formulation. Following
are various advantages of NPs:
• Enhance the aqueous solubility of hydrophobic drugs.
• Protect the drug molecules against degradation.
• It offers the possibility of a prolonged release of the drug.
Z. Iqbal et al.