A REVIEW ON FLOATING MICROSPHERES

The purpose of writing this review on floating microspheres is to compile the recent literature with special focus on the principle mechanism of floatation to achieve gastric retention. Recent advances indicate that floating microspheres are especially suitable for achieving sustained or delayed release oral formulations with flexibility of blending to attain different release patterns, low risk of dose dumping as well as reproducible and short gastric retention time. One of the approaches toward this goal is to develop the floating microspheres so as to increase the gastric retention time. In this review, the current status of floating microspheres including hollow microspheres (micro balloons) and their characterization, advantages, disadvantages, mechanism and method of preparation for gastric retention of drug are discussed. This review also summarizes the in-vitro dissolution study to evaluate the performance and applications of floating microspheres. Keywords: Floating microspheres, Floating Drug Delivery System, Gastro Retention, Bioavailability, Hydro dynamically Balanced Systems.