Original Article
Thermoresponsive polymer membrane for the local delivery of drugs
Author(s): Charlene C Ng, Yu-Ling Cheng and Bradley A Saville*
OBJECTIVE: To develop a temperature-responsive polymer membrane that is permeable to drug only at temperatures above 42ºC. A triggerable implant that releases drug only when heated can be made by encapsulating a drug reservoir with such a thermoresponsive membrane. Such an implant can be applied in clinical situations in which it is desirable to release drug only on demand, such as erectile dysfunction. METHODS: A porous polyethylene (PE) membrane was modified by fillings its pores with either docosane or a docosane:eicosane mixture. The melting transition of the alkanes corresponds to a diffusional switch, thus, the alkane melting point corresponds to the membrane release trigger temperature. The onset of melting for each alkane and the alkane mixture was measured by differential scanning calorimetry. Using a diffusion cell, the permeability of propranolol hydrochloride (PRO) th.. Read More»
DOI:
10.4172/1488-5069.1000005
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