Topical drug delivery in the eye.

Introduction of a drug or polymer directly into the conjunctival sac should, in theory, facilitate the maximum level of efficacy. In practice, most material undergoes non-productive loss. The work of David Maurice facilitated a better understanding of drug entry by the study of probes delivered in several formulations, and by the construction of instruments to study probe distribution. This review describes research on the applications of gamma scintigraphy to follow the residence of polymers in the eye and the evaluation of the data to assess potential new materials. Finally, our progress on the construction of an ocular spectrometer to directly follow drug entry following topical administration is described.