Thermally driven Hydrogel Actuator for controllable flow pump in long term drug delivery

In this chapter the use of a thermally activated hydrogel actuator for the realization of long-term drug delivery systems able to control the drug flow rate following defined tasks is investigated. In the first part, the material properties of the thermally sensitive hydrogel, whose network is constituted by cross-linked poly(vinyl-methyl-ether) (PVME) molecules, are outlined; the dynamic properties of a designed drug delivery system using such a hydrogel as the driving actuator are then derived.