Imaging of Drug Elution by Raman, ToF-SIMS and Scanning Probe Microscopies

摘要

Controlled release of amorphous drug from apolymer matrix depends intimately upon the degree ofmixing of drug and polymer, the susceptibility of thedrug to crystallization, and the ability of the drug todissolve and diffuse through water-swollen polymer.Ideally, characterization methods would follow theseprocesses on the molecular level in situ and in real time.We move closer to this ideal state of characterizationthrough application of three imaging methods: highresolution confocal Raman and scanning probe (atomicforce) microscopies in aqueous environments, and timeof-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS)in sputtering mode using C60+ ions under vacuum.