Controlled drug delivery using microspheres: An experiment for chemical engineers

Controlled release drug delivery has recently become a major research and development focus area of today's pharmaceutical industry. New drug delivery systems are continually being designed to dispense a drug at a predetermined rate, either constant or in intervals, to a target area in order to maintain a therapeutic concentration of drug at a desired location in the body. Rowan University is currently working with the Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems (ERC-SOPS) of Rutgers University to develop educational materials involving drug delivery technology. The current materials being developed are freshman level experiments involving drug release from microspheres. The microspheres are made with an alginate loaded with a model drug. The experiments involve measuring and analyzing the release rate of the drug from the microspheres. The purpose of the experiment is to provide engineering students with basic skills relevant to the drug delivery field. These experiments will also allow engineering students to grasp basic knowledge of mass transfer and hydrogel properties.