Ecoflex-hydrogel bilayer soft robot for pH-controlled drug protection and delivery

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Conventional anticancer therapies remain limited by inadequate tumor-specific delivery and substantial off-target toxicity. Although hydrogel-based drug delivery systems offer high biocompatibility and tunable release profiles, their clinical translation is often impeded by uncontrolled diffusion and premature drug leakage inherent to their porous networks. Here, we introduce a multifunctional silicone-hydrogel bilayer soft robotic platform designed to achieve precise, stimuli-responsive drug delivery with enhanced retention and spatiotemporal control. Unlike conventional hydrogel-based systems, the proposed platform employs an Ecoflex-hydrogel bilayer architecture in which the elastomeric Ecoflex layer acts as a protective barrier that mechanically confines the hydrogel and suppresses premature drug leakage. The bilayer architecture integrates a hydrophobic silicone layer, which effectively suppresses unintended drug leakage, with a pH-responsive poly( N -isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (p(NIPAM-co-AAc)) hydrogel layer that enables on-demand release via reversible swelling-deswelling behavior. Incorporation of magnetic iron(III) oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) nanoparticles within the silicone matrix further allows remote, non-invasive actuation under external magnetic fields. The platform exhibits excellent thermal stability at physiological temperature (36.5 °C) and demonstrates sele

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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