Pharmaceutical Applications of Electrospraying

Abstract

The electrohydrodynamic atomization technique, or simply called electrospraying, has been extensively studied for biomedical as well as for pharmaceutical applications over the past years. The simplicity, flexibility, and efficiency of producing particles at the microscale or nanoscale, with tailored size, shape, morphology, and microstructure, make electrospraying to become one of the most promising and well-practiced approaches to be applied in many biomedical and pharmaceutical fields, from improving the bioavailability of poorly aqueous soluble drugs, preparing targeted drug delivery systems, and controllable drug release systems to delivering sensitive therapeutic agents such as protein-based drugs or even living cells. Nevertheless, some issues still remain with respect to low throughput as well as the complex interplay between a great number of processing and formulation factors. A comprehensive understanding of these fundamental aspects is essential for the successful application of electrospraying for the production of particulate formulations with desired properties.

Keywords: amorphous; controlled release; delivery systems; drug delivery systems; formulation; microspheres; nanoparticles; physicochemical properties; polymeric drug; processing.