Emerging Strategies in Targeted and Smart Drug Delivery

A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Discovery, Development and Delivery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 733

Editor


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Guest Editor
Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
Interests: human and veterinary pharmaceuticals; advanced drug delivery; nano medications; pharmaceutical psychedelics; reverse engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The fundamental challenge in drug therapy has long been to deliver the right dose of a therapeutic agent specifically to the site of disease while minimizing exposure to healthy tissues, thereby maximizing efficacy and reducing side effects. Conventional drug delivery systems often fall short of this ideal, leading to suboptimal treatment outcomes and systemic toxicity. The field of targeted and smart drug delivery has emerged as a transformative paradigm to overcome these limitations. By leveraging advances in nanotechnology, biomaterials, molecular biology, and stimuli-responsive chemistry, researchers are engineering sophisticated carriers capable of navigating biological barriers, recognizing disease-specific signatures, and releasing their payload in a spatially, temporally, and dosage-controlled manner. This area is critically important for advancing treatment modalities across a wide spectrum of diseases, including cancer, neurological disorders, autoimmune conditions, and infectious diseases, heralding a new era of personalized and effective medicine.

This Special Issue aims to explore the latest advancements and emerging strategies in the field of targeted and smart drug delivery systems. Original research articles and comprehensive reviews are welcome in this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following themes:

  • Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems;
  • Stimuli-responsive drug delivery technologies;
  • Targeted delivery using ligands and antibodies;
  • Advanced biomaterials for drug formulation;
  • Integration of machine learning and AI in drug delivery optimization;
  • Multi-functional drug delivery platforms for combination therapy;
  • Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of targeted delivery systems;
  • Long-acting formulations.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Candace Day
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • targeted drug delivery
  • nanoparticles
  • drug delivery carriers
  • controlled release
  • therapeutic agents
  • drug formulation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2314 KB  
Article
In Vivo Indirect Insulin Dose Evaluation of Noninvasive Ultrasound-Mediated Transdermal Delivery Compared to Subcutaneous Injection
by Osama Al-Bataineh, Rula Abdallat and Ausilah Alfraihat
Biomedicines 2026, 14(4), 900; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines14040900 - 15 Apr 2026
Viewed by 481
Abstract
Background: Noninvasive transdermal insulin delivery using ultrasound technology has gained attention for improving the glycemic control of insulin-dependent patients. Methods: Indirect functional comparison and evaluation of insulin dosage, between noninvasive ultrasound-mediated transdermal delivery and needle injection methods, was achieved utilizing in [...] Read more.
Background: Noninvasive transdermal insulin delivery using ultrasound technology has gained attention for improving the glycemic control of insulin-dependent patients. Methods: Indirect functional comparison and evaluation of insulin dosage, between noninvasive ultrasound-mediated transdermal delivery and needle injection methods, was achieved utilizing in vivo blood glucose measurements of temporary hyperglycemic rabbits. Nine rabbits were divided into three groups: (i) untreated control, (ii) subcutaneous injection and (iii) ultrasound-mediated transdermal delivery. Animals were anesthetized using a combination of ketamine hydrochloride and sodium xylazine to produce temporary hyperglycemic rabbits during the experiments. The rabbits in the control group did not receive insulin, while the animals in the ultrasound group received insulin transdermally for 10 min utilizing a customized single-element piston-shaped ultrasound transducer operated by multi-frequency electrical signals from 100 to 200 kHz. Rabbits in the direct subcutaneous injection group were anesthetized and injected with 0.25 units/kg of insulin. Results: With an initial blood glucose baseline level of 228.7 ± 13.1 (mg/dL) for all rabbits, the in vivo results of control group showed an increase above the baseline by 129.7 ± 27.3 (mg/dL) at the end of the in vivo experimental period (80 min). However, the ultrasound-mediated delivery and subcutaneous injection groups showed noticeable statistically significant percentage reductions in blood glucose levels by 43.9 ± 5.4 and 42.7 ± 6.6, respectively, compared to the control group by the end of the in vivo experiments. Conclusions: In vivo glucose response results confirmed that piston-shaped ultrasound transducers achieved indirectly similar insulin dosage delivery by ultrasound energy for tested animals with no statistically significant differences once compared to the results of the subcutaneous needle injection group. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Strategies in Targeted and Smart Drug Delivery)
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