DESIGN AND MATHEMATICAL-ANALYSIS OF CONTROLLED RELEASE FROM MICROSPHERE-CONTAINING POLYMERIC IMPLANTS

A model has been developed to describe controlled drug release from surface-eroding, biodegradable, implantable devices containing surface-eroding, biodegradable microspheres. This is a novel formulation design which gives drug release within a desired range, but which is not zero order. The described controlled release formulation can be used with a reasonable final device size, to give a desired rate of release over an extended period of time with only one application. The analysis of the formulation is limited to surface-eroding polymers with microspheres releasing at distinct intervals. In addition, all necessary parameters may be calculated prior to fabrication of these devices to give the desired release profile.