Repurposing biodegradable tissue engineering scaffolds for localized chemotherapeutic delivery

While highly porous biodegradable sponges have typically been used as tissue engineering scaffolds, they could be applicable in settings requiring drug delivery. Since most drug delivery devices are intentionally solid, nonporous polymers, a detailed structure-function relationship of delivery from a porous degradable sponges would allow researchers to develop such devices for either delivery alone, or in conjunction with tissue engineering. Two fabrication techniques (salt-leaching and solvent-quenching) were used to prepare several different variations of poly(DL-lactide-glycolide) and poly(caprolactone)-co-poly(lactide) porous sponges. Upon fabrication, an in-depth structure-function analysis was carried out where the functions of loading capacity and release profile of cisplatin, as a model drug, were evaluated in terms of the swelling, porosity, and degradation properties of the sponges. Swelling, pore volume fraction, and the number of pores per volume were all found to be positively correlated with both the loading capacity and amount of cisplatin released after 2 hr. Knowledge of these relationships can be used to assist in the design of other porous delivery systems.