Portable Iontophoresis Device for Efficient Drug Delivery

Abstract

The timely delivery of drugs to specific locations in the body is imperative to ensure the efficacy of treatment. This study introduces a portable facial device that can deliver drugs efficiently using iontophoresis. Two types of power supplies—direct current and pulse ionization supplies—were manufactured by injection molding. Electrical stimulation elements, which contained Ag metal wires, were woven into facial mask packs. The diffusion phenomenon in the skin and iontophoresis were numerically modeled. Injection molding was simulated before the device was manufactured. Analysis using rhodamine B demonstrated a remarkable increase in the moisture content of the skin and effective absorption of the drug under an applied electric field upon the application of iontophoresis. The proposed concept and design constitute a new method of achieving effective drug absorption with wearable devices.

Keywords

• iontophoresis
• transdermal administration
• diffusion
• rhodamine
• drug absorption