ABSTRACT
Recent ly , it is becoming evident that the benefits of in t ravenous d r u g infusion can be closely dupl ica ted, without i ts h a z a r d s , by us ing the skin as the por t of d r u g administration to provide cont inuous t ransdermal d r u g infusion into the systemic circulation [ 1 ] ,
To provide continuous d r u g infusion th rough an intact sk in , severa l t ransdermal therapeut ic systems have been developed for topical application onto the intact skin surface to control the de - l ivery of d r u g and i ts subsequen t permeation th rough the skin t i s sue . It is exemplified by the development and market ing of scopolamine-releasing t ransdermal the rapeu t ic system for 72-hr p rophy - laxis or t rea tment of motion-induced nausea [ 2 ] , of n i t roglycer in and isosorbide d in i t ra te - re leas ing t ransdermal the rapeu t ic systems for once-a -day medication of angina pector is [ 3 , 4 ] , and of clonidinereleasing t ransdermal therapeut ic system for weekly t reatment of hyper tens ion [ 4 ] . The intes i ty of i n t e r e s t s in the potential biomedical applications of t ransdermal controlled d r u g administration is demonstrated in the increas ing research act ivi t ies in a number of health care ins t i tu t ions in the development of var ious types of t r a n s - dermal therapeut ic systems for long-term continuous infusion of therapeut ic a g e n t s , including an t ihype r t ens ive , ant ianginal , an th i s ta - mine, antiinflammatory, analgesic , an t i a r th r i t i c , s teroidal , and cont racep t ive d r u g s .
