Design Tool Used for the Selection of Nanoparticle Drug Delivery Systems in the Treatment of Respiratory Diseases

Abstract

This goal of this study was to identify nanoparticle (NP)-related drug delivery systems that could be used for the treatment of respiratory diseases; and to develop a design tool that could be used to create new NP drug delivery systems for the treatment of a variety of respiratory diseases. As a large number of moderate to severe respiratory diseases remain incurable, with available therapeutic options only offering a temporary relief of symptoms; this design tool could potentially assist in the development of new pharmacotherapeutics that could curb and cure even the most severe and life-threatening of respiratory diseases. In order to create this design tool, a large sample of research publications were screened for references to respiratory diseases and medical treatment using nanoparticles. A few scenarios and assumptions were created, based on information from the sample of research publications and other publicly available information. As this was the initial development stage of the design tool, only a few scenarios and assumptions were tested. Theoretically, a software design tool would enable the faster and easier testing of various combinations of NPs, and facilitate the rapid development of efficacious treatment for moderate to severe respiratory diseases. The output from the design tool could also be further tested and validated using in-vitro and in-vivo systems. While the initial focus of the design tool was the identification of new NP treatment options for a selection of respiratory diseases; the tool could also potentially be modified to treat other respiratory diseases and other tissue and organ system diseases as well.