Numerical study of a drug release profile in the transdermal drug delivery system

Drug release by diffusion from an unstressed thin polymer film with a dissolved crystallizable component was simulated using a kinetic Monte Carlo model. This model was used previously to study Ostwald ripening in a high crystallizable component regime and was shown to correctly simulate solvation, diffusion, and precipitation. In this study, the same model with modifications was applied to the drug transportation and release in the low concentration regime of interest to the transdermal drug delivery system (TDS) community. We demonstrate the model's utility by simulating diffusion, crystal precipitation, growth and shrinkage during storage, and drug release from the thin TDS to a surface under different conditions. The simulation results provide a first approximation for the drug release profile occurring from TDS to skin. It has been reported that growth of drug crystals in TDS occurs mainly in the middle third of the polymer layer at relatively higher temperatures. The results from the simulations showed that the release rate and concentration profile of a TDS depend on the dissolution process of the crystal. At low storage temperature, the drug precipitates to form small evenly distributed crystals throughout the thickness of the TDS patch. The release rate of these small, evenly distributed crystals most closely matched that of a completely dissolved drug.