Drug Delivery Through Osmotic Micropump – A Review

This review article discusses the drug delivery systems using osmotic principles for pumping and some of the milestones in Osmotic Drug Delivery (ODDs) systems developed till date. Recent technological advances led to the development of low flow rate biocompatible micropumps. Drug delivery methods are considered as one of the salient characteristic feature to enhance efficacy of a drug. Micropumps help in achieving this by controlled drug delivery which is not possible in traditional methods (tablets and injections). Osmotic systems further increases the patient compliance, decreases dose related adverse events and most importantly helps in controlling or constant drug release (zero-order). Drug release from these systems is independent of pH and other physiological parameters to a large extent. Based on the potential advantages and persistent market demand for new technological advances in controlling the drug delivery rate, it is evident that osmotic pumps have bright scope in drug development.