Drug Delivery and Translational Research - Featured Article: January 2022
Read the featured article from the January 2022 issue! (this opens in a new tab)
Drug delivery to the inner ear is challenging due to its location in the petrous bone, small volume, and tight barriers. Localized (i.e., intracochlear) delivery of drugs would overcome the limitations of extracochlear drug delivery. The study focuses on the development of small, flexible, and biodegradable PLGA-based implants for controlled intracochlear drug delivery and release. The drug carrier system was tested for implantation in the human inner ear in temporal bones. In some of these temporal bones, cochlear implants were implanted before the insertion of the drug carrier system. Afterwards, temporal bones were imaged by ultra-high-resolution computed tomography to evaluate the placement of the drug carrier system and cochlear implant electrodes. The measurements revealed the feasibility of implanting the drug carrier system into the scala tympani of the human inner ear and further the possibility of co-administration with a cochlear implant.