Pharmaceutical feasibility and flow characteristics of polymeric non-spherical particles

Last decade has seen emergence of particle shape as a critical design parameter to overcome several long standing problems associated with particulate drug delivery- non-specific drug effects, RES uptake, poor bioavailability, achieving controlled release profiles, predictable degradation profiles, longer circulation time and zero order release kinetics to name a few. Non-spherical particles have been synthesized by techniques ranging from classical solvent evaporation to specialized techniques like film stretching and PRINT®. Non-spherical particles tend to show a difference in macrophage uptake, adhesion to target cells and distribution in vivo. This review also discusses these effects and its implications. Lastly, the impact of particle aspect ratio and other shape-governed parameters on flow properties, dispersion viscosities and other pharmaceutically relevant aspects have been briefly explained. Although there are no thumb rules yet, modern and classical literature on behavior of non-spherical particles has been reviewed and the observations have been trend-lined.