Initial burst measures of release kinetics from fiber matrices

A comprehensive axisymmetric diffusion model of drug release from a fiber is developed to account for both the initial burst (IB) phenomenon as well as the later diffusion-dominated release. This model is an enhancement over previous models in that a set of four IB parameters are calculated, which both describe the initial burst phenomenon as well as improve the fit for the diffusion-dominated release phase. This model is also an enhancement over previous models in allowing: finite dissolution volumes, finite stirring levels of the medium, and user-specified initial drug dispersion within the device. Five different drug release data sets are used to verify the model and to derive values for the IB parameters. Two of the data sets are from experiments conducted in this study, and the other three sets are from previously published data. These data sets were selected to cover a wide range of possibilities, i.e., from nearly 0% to nearly 100% of the total drug release during IB, yet the model handles all cases equally well.