An Ultrasoft and Flexible PDMS-Based Balloon-Type Implantable Device for Controlled Drug Delivery

Non-biodegradable implants have undergone extensive investigation as drug delivery devices to enable advanced healthcare toward personalized medicine. However, fibroblast encapsulation is one of the major challenges in all non-biodegradable implants, besides other challenges such as high initial burst, risk of membrane rupture, high onset time, non-conformal contact with tissues, and tissue damage. To tackle such challenges, we propose a novel ultrasoft and flexible balloon-type drug delivery device for unidirectional and long-term controlled release. The ultrasoft balloon-type device (USBD) was fabricated by using selective bonding between 2 polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes and injecting a fluid into the non-bonded area between them. The balloon acted as a reservoir containing a liquid drug, and at the same time, the membrane of the balloon itself acted as the pathway for release based on diffusion. The release was modulated by tuning the thickness and composition of the PDMS membrane. Regardless of the thickness and composition, all devices exhibited zero-order release behavior. The longest zero-order release and nearly zero-order release were achieved for 30 days and 58 days at a release rate of 1.16 μg/day and 1.68 μg/day, respectively. In vivo evaluation was performed for 35 days in living rats, where the USBD maintained zero-order and nearly zero-order release for 28 days and 35 days, respectively. Thanks to the employment of ultrasoft and flexible membranes and device design, the USBD could achieve minimal tissue damage and foreign body responses. It is expected that the proposed device may provide a novel approach for long-term drug delivery with new therapeutic modalities.