Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
15:04
Modeling and Simulations of Olfactory Drug Delivery with Passive and Active Controls of Nasally Inhaled Pharmaceutical Aerosols
Published on: May 20, 2016
Advances in Intranasal CNS Targeting: Integrating Formulations, Devices, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and 3D
Lena Shaghlil1,2, Yousef Al-Ebini3, Mahmoud J Al Shawabkeh4
1Faculty of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, Pekan 26600, Pahang, Malaysia.
Pharmaceutics
|July 28, 2026
Summary
Nose-to-brain delivery offers a practical, non-invasive route for targeting the central nervous system (CNS). Optimizing formulations, devices, and evaluation methods is key to enhancing drug deposition in the nasal cavity for effective brain delivery.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology and Drug Delivery
- Biomedical Engineering
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Nose-to-brain (N2B) delivery is a promising non-invasive strategy for direct central nervous system (CNS) targeting.
- It aims to increase brain exposure while minimizing systemic side effects.
- Effective N2B delivery requires optimizing drug formulations, delivery devices, and quantitative evaluation methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and integrate key advancements in N2B delivery, focusing on formulations, devices, and quantitative evaluation.
- To establish design rules for effective olfactory and trigeminal deposition of drugs.
- To enhance the translational relevance of N2B delivery strategies for clinical applications.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on N2B delivery formulations, including mucoadhesive systems, nanoparticles, nano-emulsions, and smart gels.
- Analysis of advanced nasal delivery devices such as optimized conventional sprays, breath-actuated sprays, and vibrating mesh nebulizers.
- Discussion of quantitative evaluation strategies, including 3D-printed nasal casts, spray diagnostics, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
Main Results:
- Formulations like mucoadhesive systems and nanoparticle carriers prolong nasal residence time.
- Advanced devices, including breath-actuated sprays and vibrating mesh nebulizers, improve aerosol routing and deposition in the upper nasal cavity.
- Quantitative methods like nasal casts and CFD enable precise linking of formulation/device parameters to regional deposition.
Conclusions:
- Co-designed formulation-device platforms, validated by metrics like CFD and supported by clinical data, are crucial for effective N2B product development.
- Standardized, anatomy-aware testing protocols are needed to ensure consistent and patient-relevant outcomes.
- N2B delivery holds significant potential for CNS therapeutics, contingent on rigorous development and validation.
