Microparticle drug delivery

Co-polymers used for a drug delivery system known as particle in particle. The inner particle, shown in orange, is loaded with the drug prednisolone, used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. The outer particle, in blue, is a co-polymer which encapsulates the inner particle. Polymers that do not dissolve in acidic solutions can be used to coat a drug to prevent it being released in the stomach, alternatively, slowly dissolving polymers can be used to produce a slow release of drug, to reduce the number of times a day the patient has to take their medication. Polymers are also used to target the release of a drug to a specific part of the digestive tract for the treatment of a particular disease thus reducing side effects in other parts of the body. The diameter of each microparticle is approximately 20 micrometres. Wellcome Image Award winner 2009 Wellcome Image Awards 2009.