Fabrication of Transdermal Patch from Freeze-dried Agarose Hydrogel for Electrically Controlled Release

摘要

A transdermal patch is the medicated adhesive patch for controlled release by placing on the skin to transport a drug into the bloodstream. These patches are widely used in the cosmetic and transdermal drug delivery system. Therefore, this research aims to fabricate the transdermal patch from agarose by freeze-dried hydrogel. The effect of agarose concentrations on properties of the freeze-dried agarose hydrogels was studied in terms of morphology, stability, drug absorption, and drug release based at electrical potential of 0 V. The patches from agarose hydrogel after freeze-drying were soft and tough. The swelling of freeze-dried agarose hydrogel decreased with increasing agarose concentrations because an amount of agarose chain induced the more helix coil entanglement for formation of cross-linking. This result is in a decrease of the free volume for water absorption. In addition, the drug release of freeze-dried agarose hydrogel decreased with increasing agarose concentration at electrical potential of 0 V. In expectation, the drug release can be controlled by applied electrical potential due to the iontophoresis mechanism.