Chronic, intermittent convection-enhanced delivery devices

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Drug Delivery Systems

Background:

• Intraparenchymal convection-enhanced delivery (CED) enables direct brain drug administration, bypassing the blood-brain barrier.
• Clinical translation has been limited by poor drug distribution and infusate reflux along the catheter track.
• Recent advancements have introduced reflux-inhibiting features in commercially available CED devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advancements in CED technology for improved drug distribution in the brain.
• To explore the current state of chronic infusion systems for long-term neurological therapeutic delivery.
• To address the need for chronically accessible platforms for treating chronic neurological conditions.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent improvements in convection-enhanced delivery (CED) device technology.
• Analysis of current state-of-the-art chronic infusion systems for brain drug delivery.
• Evaluation of limitations in existing CED platforms for long-term therapeutic administration.

Main Results:

• Improvements in CED technology have addressed some limitations, leading to devices with reflux inhibition.
• Existing CED devices are primarily suitable for acute or short-term therapeutic administration.
• Limited experience and available platforms exist for chronic, intermittent, or continuous brain drug delivery via CED.

Conclusions:

• There is a significant need for chronically accessible CED platforms for neurological diseases.
• No commercially available clinical platform currently exists for chronic, intermittent, or continuous brain drug delivery.
• Further development is required to establish reliable chronic CED systems for long-term neurological treatment.