Smart Nanocarriers and AI-Driven Release Systems for Targeted Antibiotic Delivery

The antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis is not merely a consequence of the emergence ofresistant pathogens. Furthermore, the remaining shortcomings oftraditional antibiotic production and development processes have become a profound health threat, exacerbated by their pharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic limitations. This book chapter redefines the AMR crisis as a problem of drug and treatment discovery as well as drug delivery to target tissues, and examines the technological angle emerging at the intersection of nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) in response to this problem. This review begins by examining the problems inherent in traditional antibiotic architecture, such as systemic toxicity, low bioavailability, poor stability, and, most importantly, the inability to penetrate protected sites such as bacterial biofilms or intracellular bunkers. Copyright © 2026 by IGI Global Scientific Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher. Use of this publication to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is expressly prohibited. The publisher reserves all rights to license its use for generative AI training and machine learning model development.