Ultrasound-Triggered Release of Anticancer Nanoparticles from Electrospun Fabrics Integrated with Soft Robotic Tentacles

The prompt identification of pancreatic cancer symptoms is an ongoing clinical challenge, often leading to late diagnosis and poor prognosis. Tumor “hijacking” of the pancreatic stromal structure limits the uptake of systemic chemotherapeutics. Localized drug delivery systems (DDS) using endoluminal techniques are widely utilized, with positive early results for improved control over tumor growth. There is a need for technologies that integrate endoluminal resources and intelligent material systems to better control the spatiotemporal delivery of chemotherapeutics. The ultrasound (US)-triggered localized release of therapeutics is demonstrated through the design of solvent traceless drug-loaded vinylbenzyl-functionalized gelatin (gel4vbc) nanoparticles (NPs) integrated with an electrospun fabric. Albumin-loaded NPs encapsulated into a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) coating of a poly(ε-caprolactone) fabric, evidence tunable triggered NP delivery controlled by regulating PVA concentration (0–1 wt%) and US intensity (0–3 W·cm−2). The fixation of the NP-coated fabric to a magnetic tentacle robot (MTR) enables the automated manipulation into a phantom pancreatic duct before the US-triggered release of NP-loaded albumin and MTR retraction. Albumin release is controlled by varying the surface area of the NP-loaded MTR-coating fabric. A novel DDS is designed for facile integration into soft robotics and US-triggered delivery of therapeutic-loaded NPs.