Current technology is limited to delivering relatively small drug molecules transdermally. The outermost layer of the skin made up of dead skin cells (stratum corneum) is the main obstacle to transdermal drug delivery. To address the skin barrier University of South Florida’s new technology uses radio frequency (RF) signals to disrupt the stratum corneum in effect creating temporary microchannels in the skin, up to 100 micron in size, through which the drug molecules can more freely pass. The skin returns to normal within a few minutes.
The USF RF device also improves dosing of transdermal drugs. Current transdermal drug delivery technologies release the drug over a timeframe of hours to days at a nearly steady rate. But effective dosages vary among patients because stratum corneum thickness vastly varies from person to person.
This varying thickness causes absorption rates to also vary from person to person. Our RF delivery system avoids this absorption problem because the stratum corneum is bypassed completely. The drug is applied directly to the normal living cells which more readily absorb the drug, concurrently allowing absorption of a much wider range of drug molecule variants (size, pH, and solubility) at a consistent rate.
Modulating the RF signal, and thus modulating the rate of drug application, allows for much more flexibility in dosage scheduling. The technology is available for licensing.
University of South Florida, Division of Patents and Licensing
3802 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 100, Tampa, Florida 33612-9220
Tel: 813.974.0994 (office) Fax: 813.974.8490
Email: patents@research.usf.edu
Website: http://www.research.usf.edu/pl/
