IIT Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Keywords

MOX responsible:
A. Quarteroni
Team:
L. Formaggia, A. Veneziani, P. Zunino, S. Minisini, C. D'Angelo, P. Santagati
Start date:
June 2006
End date:
June 2008
Scientific documentation:
progetti/iit
Abstract:
Nanobiotechnology models and methods for local drug delivery from nano/micro structured materials
Description:
The goal of this research is to devise mathematical models of intelligent delivery able to treat different release devices, drugs and drug carriers and targeted biological tissues. We will set up numerical methods for the reliable and affordable numerical simulation of these processes. This is a challenging task both for physics and mathematics. Indeed, drug delivery from either polymeric or ceramic matrices involves complex phenomena at the nanoscopic and microscopic scales as brownian ratchet effects, hydrophobic/hydorphilic transitions, phase transitions (solid/liquid) and material erosion. The objective is to tailor at the nano and micro-scale the ceramic or polymeric material by combining the desired release rate with various other properties needed to ensure processability, durability and multiple end-uses. This purpose can not be achieved without the application of numerical simulation tools, whose development and tuning for the specific problem at hand represents the core of this project.