Abstract

The ablation of stratum corneum (SC) by the pulsed-laser irradiation is one of the method to enhance the drug penetration in transdermal drug delivery (TD). In this study, we have tried to enhance the drug penetration without the ablation of SC using an MIR-FEL (6-µm wavelength). Lidocaine was used as the drug on this study. The enhancement of lidocaine penetration was measured by HPLC. It was found that lidocaine flux (µg/cm²/h) at 0.5 hour with the irradiated skin using an MIR-FEL was enhanced 10 fold faster than with the non-irradiated skin. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of an MIR-FEL (6-µm wavelength) irradiation in the TD.

© 2005 Optical Society of America