Percolative drug diffusion from cylindrical matrix systems with unsealed boundaries.

Release of NaCl in both the axial and radial directions from cylindrical ethyl cellulose tablets were investigated by the alternating ionic current method. The pore structure of the investigated binary mixtures was examined by mercury porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy, and the nm range fractal surface dimension of tablet pore walls was extracted from krypton gas adsorption isotherms. The drug release was shown to consist of two overlapping processes of which the first was ascribed to dissolution of NaCl close to the tablet boundary followed by subsequent diffusion through a thin ethyl cellulose layer and a second from which a porosity percolation threshold of 0.22 could be extracted. As well, a cross-over to effective-medium behaviour at a porosity of approximately 0.44 was observed. The presented findings showed that drug release from matrix tablets with unsealed tablet walls substantially differs from earlier investigated release processes for which the drug has only been allowed to escape through one of the flat tablet surfaces. Thus, the present study brings forward knowledge important for the tailoring of controlled drug delivery vehicles with optimum release patterns.

Electrodynamic investigations of ion transport and structural properties in drug-containing gels: dielectric spectroscopy and transient current measurements on catanionic carbopol systems.

The aim of this study is to show the potential of using electrodynamic methods as characterization tools in the controlled drug release process, on complex drug release systems. The two formulations under study were a Carbopol gel containing diphenhydramine and an identical gel also containing the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate which forms catanionic vesicles with the diphenhydramine. The average diffusion coefficients were calculated from both the dielectric spectroscopy and the transient current measurements. Comparing the herein-obtained diffusion coefficients with those obtained in another study using a traditional USP technique for the same system, the values are virtually the same. The two electrodynamic methods proved to be potentially valuable tools for obtaining information about the concentration and the motion of the drug molecules inside the gel. The transient current measurements are particularly interesting in this case, as the method gives information not only on an average level, but also of the different charged moieties separately. Interestingly, it seems that the methods also are applicable for obtaining information about the mesh size in the gel.