102b Electrokinetic-Based Drug Delivery through the Skin

Jennifer Anne Pascal, Chemical Engineering, Tennessee Tech University, PH-214, Cookeville, TN 38505 and Pedro E. Arce, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tennessee Tech University, Prescott Hall Room 214, Cookeville, TN 38505.

Electrokinetic-based methods to deliver drugs through the skin are becoming more attractive as many medicines are potentially harmful to the digestive system and provide only temporary relief. Many other methods of drug delivery have been studied, including aerosol sprays for the lungs as well as patches for the skin. Electrokinetic-based methods are being studied in order to model drug delivery through the skin to ultimately assist in the design of procedures to deliver drugs via the skin. This project involves using idealized geometries (rectangular, cylindrical, and annular) of a capillary bundle to model the skin. The use of hydrodynamic and electrostatic principles allows the analysis of fluid flow within the capillaries as well as the transport of the drug. This study aims to develop analytical models which may be tested for accuracy by performing experiments.