The method to treat with medical substances using iontophoresis became popular during the beginning of the 20th century. It was Stephen Leduc (1853-1939) who introduced the term ion therapy and created the process.
Iontophoresis
Iontophoresis is a direct electrical current of ions in soluble salts that enter the body’s tissue for therapeutic purposes. It is a technique for improving the absorption of drugs into the skin’s tissues.
Transdermal iontophoresis is transporting molecules between 10 and 100 μm into the skin. The path goes through hair follicles, sweat and secretion glands.
The first use of drug delivery with electric current occurred in the mid 19th century. Major progress was made during this time, especially by Benjamin Ward Richardson (1828-1896). Hermann Munk (1839-1912), William James Morton (1846-1920), Stephen Leduc (1853-1939) and Fritz Frankenhauser (born 1868).
Electrically- assisted transdermal drug deliveries
Today, researchers talk about “electrically- assisted transdermal drug deliveries”. This technique never became popular but always proved useful to some extent as it solved specific problems with drug delivery into the body.
Thirty years ago, the first transdermal drug delivery was introduced in the United States, which made a historic breakthrough. This means that medical formulations could be delivered safely and conveniently through the skin. Nevertheless, the success of transdermal deliveries has developed slowly. But with Infuzion’s new technology, transdermal hyaluronic acid and vitamin delivery seem to have gone forward. The effect is similar to an injection with a skin filler or mesotherapy.
Infuzion System
Infuzion System is a patent where, among other things, metal is replaced with a specialized ceramic to avoid burns that could occur in treatments before.
Even passive transdermal techniques like patches are growing in popularity. This is due to the size of molecules, e.g. proteins and peptides. Infuzion’s research has led to a better understanding of skin physiology and increased understanding of the transport properties of hyaluronic acid and vitamins.
• Passive – In passive transdermal systems, the drug spreads through the skin through the osmosis process. It can act locally or penetrate the capillaries. This technique is only effective with small molecules, such as in nicotine patches, i.e., nicotine has a molecular weight of 162 Daltons versus 5,808 for insulin.
• Active – Active transdermal systems such as Infuzion use a physical force to facilitate the movement of drug molecules through the skin. By using an applied force (Infuzion electrical current), active transdermal products can deliver hyaluronic acid and vitamins plus other large molecular formulations through the skin into the bloodstream at the same rate as microneedles and insulin pumps.
CONCLUSION
Infuzion Systems’ new technology will take over the ever-increasing invasive anti-aging treatments such as fillers and botulinum toxin type A. in the near future the interest for Infuzion will grow among a large number of transdermal drug delivery systems.
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48. Available from: http://www.triz.journal.com/archives/1997/12/f/