Mathematical modeling of biodegradable drug delivery systems

The present study was carried out to develop a general transport-reaction mathematical model for describing simultaneous biodegradation and drug release from drug-loaded biodegradable polymers. To develop proposed model, the water penetration into the devices, catalyzed and un-catalyzed hydrolysis reactions, and monomer diffusion out of the matrices during drug release process was considered, and Fick’s law was used. The developed model are solved numerically. Parametric studies are carried out using the model to demonstrate the effects of catalyzed and un-catalyzed hydrolysis rates on the degradation and drug release rate. Finally, model was fitted to experimental data reported in literature. The results of model computation agreed well with the experimental data.

Keywords:

drug delivery , polymer degradation , mathematical model , poly(lactic acid)