Visible Light-Triggered On-Demand Drug Release from Hybrid Hydrogels and its Application in Transdermal Patches

On-demand release from stimuli-responsive hydrogels has received great attention due to an increasing clinical need. Here, we have prepared spherical hydrogel beads showing visible light-induced volume change at body temper-ature. By spray injection of the monomer solution using the alginate templ-ating method, hybrid beads of several hundred micrometers, consisting of temperature-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone) hydrogel and magnetite nanoparticles (MNP), are produced. MNP dispersed in the hydrogel matrix absorbed visible light and generated heat, increasing the temperature of the matrix and resulting in shrinkage of the beads proportional to light intensity. It is demonstrated that light-induced volume change of dexamethasone-loaded hybrid beads result in on-demand and localized release of the drug by exposure to moderate visible light. As a potential application of the light-sensitive hybrid hydrogel beads, a transdermal patch is developed that incorporates drug-loaded hydrogel beads in multiple drug reservoirs, achieving enhanced release of a model drug when exposed to visible light. This platform should be applicable to on-demand, sequential, and long-term release of drugs via light exposure.