Administration through the oral route is the most accessible and preferred
due to its many advantages. Most of the drugs administered orally show poor bioavailability due to less residing time at the gastric absorption site. To boost the
bioavailability of such drugs, it is important to extend the residing time of the drug in
the upper GIT, which can be achieved by using gastroretentive drug delivery systems
(GRDDS). There are multiple conventional and advanced gastroretentive systems
based on various mechanisms, namely high-density systems, floating systems,
magnetic systems, mucoadhesive systems, expandable systems, raft-forming systems,
and many more. Novel techniques like 3D printing technology are also an emerging
approach in the fabrication of GRDDS. Various in vitro and in vivo techniques are used
for the analysis of GRDDS, like buoyancy time, gastroscopy, scintigraphy,
ultrasonography, etc. This chapter is the comprehensive literature exploring GRDDS,
including various principles in the fabrication of GRDDS, techniques of preparation of
GRDDS, polymers used in the fabrication of GRDDS, evaluation of GRDDS,
application of 3D printing in GRDDS, and patent scenario.