A technology overview on advanced drug administration devices for effective nose-to-brain delivery

The complex geometry of nasal cavity restricts the entry of instilled or sprayed nasal formulation to the target region, hampering the drug effectiveness and thus affecting the therapy. In order to restrict the deposition of nasal formulation at nasal olfactory region so as to achieve a therapeutically effective concentration of the drug in the brain, there is a stringent need to develop an efficient nasal drug administration device. Recently, many pharmaceutical industries have emerged with several advanced nasal drug delivery devices that are technologically sound and therapeutically effective in reaching the brain regions. However, the lack of patient cooperation in breath-powered devices, formulation flexibility, and patient-to-patient variability, many devices are in the pipeline at clinical stages and yet to come at marketplace. The present chapter provides a technological overview of few most widely used nasal administration devices designed for nose-to-brain drug delivery. In addition to this, the anatomical and physiological restrictions hampering the drug delivery to nose and the assessment of nasal drug delivery devices are also the key points of this chapter. A brief overview of patents on nasal drug delivery devices for CNS targeting has also been given at the end of the chapter. Considering the potential outcomes, the mankind may expect few advanced nasal drug administration devices in the hands of end users, in the near future.