Drug Under Skin Meter (DUSM): a portable bio-impedance spectroscope for assessing transdermal drug delivery

摘要

An instrument prototype, based on a measurement method relating bioimpedance and amount of drug present in a tissue under test, was realized. The instrument assesses the amount of drug conveyed through the skin by measuring impedance spectrum before and after administration. In compliance with safety regulations, the stimulus signal does not exceed the peak value of 200 μA well below the threshold of 424 μA provided by the IEC-60601 standard. In this paper, after illustrating the conceptual and physical design of hardware, firmware, and software interface, a preliminary metrological characterization of the prototype is described. This realization opens interesting scenarios to pursue strategies of immediate efficacy assessment for all non-invasive systems for intradermal conveying.