TRANSCUTANEOUS DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Conventional drug delivery systems are often not suitable for new protein based and other Therapeutic compounds produced by modern technology. Therefore an alternative Approach to deliver these drugs can be achieved through the skin in the form of transcutaneous drug delivery system. Modern medicine has responded with the development of methods to deliver drug transcutanously (through) the skin for therapeutic use as an alternative to traditional route including oral, intravascular, intramuscular, subcutaneous, and sublingual. Transcutaneous drug delivery has many theoretic and practical advantage and disadvantages, and such issues are often a concern for both clinicians and patients. Transcutaneous patches are flexible pharmaceutical preparations of varying sizes, containing one or more active ingredient, intended to be applied to the unbroken skin in order to deliver the active ingredient to the systemic circulation after passing through the skin barriers. A Transcutaneous patch or skin patch is a medicated adhesive patch that is placed on the skin to deliver a specific dose of medication through the skin and into the bloodstream. Often, this promotes healing to an injured area of the body. In this method, the drug enters the bloodstream directly through skin and it avoid first pass effect. Characterization of Transcutaneous patch are necessary because check it’s quality, size, time of onset & duration, adhesive property, thickness, weight of patch, moisture of content, uniformity & cutaneous toxicological studies. Their requirements for evaluation are HPLC, U.V. spectrophotometer, screw gauge, digital balance, desiccators, thin layer chromatography & K.C. Cell used.