Cutter, CaitlinInce, AylinMatlock, LaurenRutkowski, Tomasz2009-05-082009-05-082009-05-08https://hdl.handle.net/1813/12650Although a hypodermic needle inserted through the stratum corneum, the uppermost layer of skin, and into the tissue can deliver drugs effectively, it can lead to infection and be very painful. Transdermal drug delivery mediated by various microneedle technologies is a less painful method of drug delivery that also limits infection. Also, as with hypodermic needles, the microneedles successfully bypass the thick stratum corneum which is a limiting factor in transdermal drug delivery. One application of this technology is the delivery of pain medication to the skin of burn victims. A drug patch containing ibuprofen can be placed over an array of microneedles inserted into the patient?s damaged skin. In this study, the drug concentration in the burn victim?s dermis over time was modeled using COMSOL software. The effects of initial drug concentration in the patch and spacing between needles of the microarray were examined to develop an optimized model of drug delivery through second degree burns. Initially, a two dimensional model of a single microneedle inserted into the dermis was used to test assumptions made about drug diffusion through burnt skin. A three dimensional model was then constructed to examine the effects of microneedle spacing on the drug concentration profile. To determine the optimal setup, the average drug concentration in the burnt skin was measured while varying initial ibuprofen concentration in the patch and microneedle spacing. The results showed that the patch should contain a 0.4 mol/m3 concentration for a two hour application with 100 micrometer spacing. The optimal microneedle spacing was found to be a nearly linear function of the patch drug concentration the manufacturer aims to use.en-USmicroneedlessecond degree burnsdiffusionibuprofenterm paper