Table 2.

Structure, benefits and intended use of the most significant DDS in medicine.

Type of DDS	Structure	Benefits	Indented Use
Lipid-based NPs	Spherical vesicle having a lipid bilayer	Formulation simplicity and high drug loading	First vehicle for administration of pharmaceutical drugs
Solid lipid NPs	Spherical solid lipid core stabilized by surfactants	Temporal and in vivo stability	Delivery vehicle for nucleic acids
Dendrimers	Branched polymeric molecules	Encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs	Easy chemical modification to increase in vivo suitability
MOFs	Clusters of metal ions coordinated to organic ligands	High encapsulation and loading efficiency	pH-, magnetic-, ion-, temperature- and pressure-response carriers
Metallic NPs	Mainly iron oxide, gold, or silver core	Small size and easy surface functionalization	Development of diagnostic and therapeutic agents
Silica mesoporous NPs	Mesoporous silica core	Extensive multi-functionality based on its high specific surface	Stimuli-reactive guided liberation of drugs through chemical coatings
Polymeric NPs	Biodegradable and biocompatible polymers	Low cost, large-scale synthesis, payload flexibility, biocompatibility and easy surface modification	Clinical translation of nanomedicines