Supercritical Fluid Technology: An Emphasis on Drug Delivery and Related Biomedical Applications

Abstract

During the past few decades, supercritical fluid (SCF) has emerged as an effective alternative for many traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. Operating active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) alone or in combination with various biodegradable polymeric carriers in high-pressure conditions provides enhanced features with respect to their physical properties such as bioavailability enhancement, is of relevance to the application of SCF in the pharmaceutical industry. Herein, recent advances in drug delivery systems manufactured using the SCF technology are reviewed. We provide a brief description of the history, principle, and various preparation methods involved in the SCF technology. Next, we aim to give a brief overview, which provides an emphasis and discussion of recent reports using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂ ) for fabrication of polymeric carriers, for applications in areas related to drug delivery, tissue engineering, bio-imaging, and other biomedical applications. We finally summarize with perspectives.

Keywords: bioavailability enhancement; biomedical applications; drug delivery; polymeric carriers; supercritical fluids; tissue engineering.