The synthesis of multi-functional nanocarriers and the design of new stimuli-responsive means are equally important for drug delivery. Ultrasound can be used as a remote, non-invasive and controllable trigger for the stimuli-responsive release of nanocarriers. Polymeric micelles are one kind of potential drug nanocarrier. By combining ultrasound and polymeric micelles, a new modality (i.e., ultrasound-mediated polymeric micelle drug delivery) has been developed and has recently received increasing attention. A major challenge remaining in developing ultrasound-responsive polymeric micelles is the improvement of the sensitivity or responsiveness of polymeric micelles to ultrasound. This chapter reviews the recent advance in this field. In order to understand the interaction mechanism between ultrasound stimulus and polymeric micelles, ultrasound effects, such as thermal effect, cavitation effect, ultrasound sonochemistry (including ultrasonic degradation, ultrasound-initiated polymerization, ultrasonic in-situ polymerization and ultrasound site-specific degradation), as well as basic micellar knowledge are introduced. Ultrasound-mediated polymeric micelle drug delivery has been classified into two main streams based on the different interaction mechanism between ultrasound and polymeric micelles; one is based on the ultrasound-induced physical disruption of the micelle and reversible release of payload. The other is based on micellar ultrasound mechanochemical disruption and irreversible release of payload.
Keywords: Drug release; HIFU; Polymer micelle; Stimuli-responsive; Ultrasound.