Characterization of drug delivery vehicles using atomic force microscopy: current status

Area of Science:

• Nanomedicine
• Materials Science
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Nanomedicine utilizes nano-sized vehicles for targeted drug delivery.
• Characterizing these nanoscale drug carriers is essential for advancing nanomedicine.
• Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) offers high-resolution imaging and force measurement capabilities ideal for nanoscale analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the application of AFM in characterizing nanoparticles and nanofibers as drug delivery vehicles.
• To highlight the increasing complexity of AFM techniques used in nanomedicine research.
• To identify current limitations and future prospects of AFM in nanomedicine.

Main Methods:

• Review of selected publications from 2015-2018 focusing on AFM applications in nanomedicine.
• Categorization of AFM techniques by complexity: imaging/particle sizing, surface roughness analysis, and force curve analysis.
• Extraction of nanoindentation and adhesion data from force curves.

Main Results:

• AFM imaging and particle sizing are widely used for nanoparticle and nanofiber characterization.
• Surface roughness and nanomechanical/adhesion analyses are less common but progressing.
• Integration of AFM with other techniques like SEM, Raman, and Confocal microscopy is increasing.

Conclusions:

• AFM is a vital tool for the physical and chemical analysis of nanomedicine drug delivery systems.
• Current research is expanding to combine AFM with advanced spectroscopic and imaging techniques.
• Future applications may include real-time drug release monitoring and studying drug-receptor interactions at the nanoscale.