Modeling the modified drug release from curved shape drug delivery systems - Dome Matrix®

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Materials Science
• Computational Modeling

Background:

• Controlled drug release from hydrogel systems is crucial in pharmacology.
• Mathematical modeling offers a powerful tool for designing novel drug delivery systems, especially for complex geometries.
• Hydrogel-based systems, like Dome Matrix®, are of significant interest for oral drug delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply a previously developed mathematical model to complex-shaped oral drug delivery systems (Dome Matrix®).
• To validate the model's ability to describe drug release from partially accessible systems (coated surfaces).
• To investigate the influence of erosion rate, surface area/volume ratio, and fluid dynamics on drug release.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a pre-existing mathematical model for hydrogel drug release simulations.
• Determined model parameters by fitting to drug release data from a cylindrical tablet.
• Applied the validated model to predict drug release from various Dome Matrix® configurations, including assembled modules.
• Investigated the role of erosion rate as a fitting parameter and its dependency on system characteristics.

Main Results:

• The model successfully described drug release from simple and assembled Dome Matrix® systems.
• Drug release was found to be independent of tablet shape, primarily influenced by the evolution of the surface area to volume (S/V) ratio.
• The model accurately predicted drug release from partially accessible systems by incorporating erosion rate as a fitting parameter.

Conclusions:

• The mathematical model is effective in describing drug release phenomena from complex-shaped hydrogel oral drug delivery systems.
• The model's predictive capability can aid in the rational design of advanced drug delivery devices.
• Understanding the S/V ratio evolution is key to controlling drug release, irrespective of the initial tablet shape.