Biocompatible Anisotropic Polymeric Particles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biomedical Applications.

Recently, biocompatible anisotropic particles have emerged as a powerful platform in the biomedical field, especially in the areas such as therapeutics, theranostics, biosensor, targeted drug delivery, triggered drug delivery, cellular uptake, targeted cellular internalization, etc., because of their unique characteristics and superior performances over their isotropic analogues. Macromolecular anisotropic particles can primarily be classified into three different categories, such as shape anisotropy, compositional anisotropy, and surface anisotropy, i.e., heterogeneous surface chemistry leading to anisotropic surface patches. In this review, we have attempted to give an overview on the biocompatible anisotropic polymeric particles related to their synthesis and applications in biomedical arena with emphasis on their fascinating properties over spherical particles. A brief summary of their future developments is also highlighted.