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Abstract

Transdermal drug delivery of ionized drugs can be enhanced by iontophoresis. Drug in the ionic form, contained in some reservoir, can be "phoresed" through the skin with a small current across two electrodes, one above the reservoir and one at a distal skin location. Positive ions can be introduced from the positive pole, or negative ions from the negative pole. The design and development of iontophoretic devices are rather simple. Some of the principles of operation and the advantages/disadvantages and clinical implications associated with these devices are outlined in this review.

Direct Current Iontophoretic Transdermal Delivery of Peptide and Protein Drugs

“…In addition to ionic conduction and electroosmosis, other phenomena such as solute-solvent and solute-solute coupling may also account for the observed enhancement in transdermal permeation of drugs under iontophoresis. 50 Although a number of theoretical expressions have been derived to describe the observed rate of iontophoretic delivery of small molecules, an exact relationship has not been defined, primarily because of the difficulties encountered in correlating various studies conducted under different experimental conditions.61 Some authors attempted to apply Faraday's Law to describe the rate of drug deposition at the skin surface. However, because of the complexity of the factors involved in the process of iontophoresis, theoretical predictions based on Faraday's Law and their correlations with experimental data are virtually impossible.…”

A Strategy to Optimize the Operation Conditions in Iontophoretic Transdermal Delivery of Pilocarpine

“…Equation (2) also provides the path of steepest ascent toward the optimal objective fhction. A large rate of permeation is attained on decreasing the donor pH, on decreasing the ionic strength, or on increasing the current duty cycle.…”

“…Iontophoresis is used to enhance the transdermal flux of many compounds (1,2) and at present receives considerable attention (3). In dermatology, diverse medications with an iontophoretic system to delivery drug, ranging from steroids and antibiotics to local anesthetics, and the treatment of hyperhidrosis or diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, are used (4).…”

Iontophoresis - An Approach for Controlled Drug Delivery: A Review

“…Amongst these, iontophoresis, which is the facilitated movement of ions across a membrane under the influence of an externally applied small electrical potential difference (0.5 mA/cm 2 or less), is one of the most promising novel drug delivery system, which has proved to enhance the skin penetration and the release rate of a number of drugs having poor absorption/permeation profile through the skin [1][2][3][4]. It is a localized, non-invasive, convenient and rapid method of delivering water soluble, ionized medication into the skin.…”