In a modern high-tech medicine, drug-eluting polymer coatings are actively used to solve a wide range of problems, including the prevention of post-surgery infection, inflammatory, restenosis, thrombosis and many other implant-associated complications. For major assumptions, the drug elution mechanism is considered mainly to be driven by the degradation of the polymer matrix. This process is very environmentally dependent, unpredictable and often leads to a non-linear drug release kinetic. In the present work, we demonstrate how the laser microperforation of cargo-loaded biodegradable films could be used as a tool to achieve zero-order release kinetics with different elution rates. The effects of the laser-induced hole’s diameter (10, 18, 22, 24 µm) and their density (0, 1, 2, 4 per sample) on release kinetic are studied. The linear dynamics of elution was measured for all perforation densities. Release rates were estimated to be 0.018 ± 0.01 µg/day, 0.211 ± 0.08 µg/day, 0.681 ± 0.1 µg/day and 1.19 ± 0.12 µg/day for groups with 0, 1, 2, 4 microperforations, respectively. The role of biodegradation of the polymer matrix is reduced only to the decomposition of the film over time with no major influence on elution rates.

Bladder neck contracture (BNC) is a complication of the surgical treatment of benign and malignant prostate conditions and is associated with the partial or complete blockage of urination. Correction of this condition usually requires repeated surgical intervention, which does not guarantee recovery. Balloon dilation is a minimally invasive alternative to the surgical dissection of tissues; however, it significantly reduces the patient’s quality of life. Additional local anti-inflammatory treatment may reduce the number of procedures requested and increase the attractiveness of this therapeutic strategy. Here, we report about an ultrathin biocompatible coating based on polylactic acid for Foley catheter balloons that can provide localized release of Prednol-L in the range of 56–99 µg in the BNC zone under conventional diagnostic ultrasound exposure. Note that the exposure of a transrectal probe with a conventional gray-scale ultrasound regimen with and without shear wave elastography (SWE) was comparably effective for Prednol-L release from the coating surface of a Foley catheter balloon. This strategy does not require additional manipulations by clinicians. The trigger for the drug release is the ultrasound exposure, which is applied for visualization of the balloon’s location during the dilation process. In vivo experiments demonstrated the absence of negative effects of the usage of a coated Foley catheter for balloon dilation of the bladder neck and urethra.

Drug-eluting films made of bioresorbable polymers are a widely used tool of modern personalized medicine. However, most currently existing methods of producing coatings do not go beyond the laboratory, as they have low encapsulation efficiency and/or difficulties in scaling up. The PLACE (Printed Layered Adjustable Cargo Encapsulation) technology proposed in this article uses an additive approach for film manufacturing. PLACE technology is accessible, scalable, and reproducible in any laboratory. As a demonstration of the technology capabilities, we fabricated layered drug-eluting polyglycolic acid films containing different concentrations of Cefazolin antibiotic. The influence of the amount of loaded drug component on the film production process and the release kinetics was studied. The specific loading of drugs was significantly increased to 200–400 µg/cm2 while maintaining the uniform release of Cefazolin antibiotic in a dosage sufficient for local antimicrobial therapy for 14 days. The fact that the further increase in the drug amount results in the crystallization of a substance, which can lead to specific defects in the cover film formation and accelerated one-week cargo release, was also shown, and options for further technology development were proposed.