ISSN (Online) : 2277-4572
Author(s): Mukherjee S
Magnetic microspheres are at the forefront of the rapidly developing field of pharmaceutical technology with several potential applications in drug delivery, clinical medicine and research as well as in other varied sciences. Due to their unique size-dependent properties, magnetic microspheres offer the possibility to develop new therapeutics. The ability to incorporate drugs into carriers offers a new prototype in drug delivery that could be used for secondary and tertiary levels of drug targeting. Hence, magnetic microspheres hold great promise for reaching the goal of controlled and site specific drug delivery and hence have attracted wide attention of researchers. This review presents a broad treatment of magnetic microspheres discussing their advantages, limitations and their possible remedies. Different production methods which are suitable for large scale production and applications of magnetic microspheres are described. Appropriate analytical techniques for characterization of magnetic microspheres like Photon correlation spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry are highlighted. Aspects of magnetic microspheres route of administration and their biodistribution are also incorporated. If appropriately investigated, magnetic microspheres may open new vistas in therapy of complex diseases.
