. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Jul 3.

Published in final edited form as: Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2018 Jul 3;130:90–112. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2018.06.023

Table 1.

Distinct features of small vs. large DDSs of the same materials [58–60].

Features	Large vs. small DDS
Size	Large (millimeters)	Small (sub-micron)
Surface/mass ratio	Low	High
Release kinetics	Surface erosion	Burst release
Blood circulation	No	Yes
Cellular uptake	No	Yes
Capacity of interactions with biomolecules	Modest	Extensive