Measurement of rapid release kinetics for drug delivery.

A fluorescence measurement system and methods of data analysis were developed to measure rapid kinetics of transdermal transport in vitro. Three variations on the technique were demonstrated, where the receptor compartment concentration was determined by: 1) fluorescence measurements of aliquots removed at discrete time points, 2) continuous fluorescence measurements made directly in the receptor compartment using a custom-made fluorimeter cuvette as a permeation chamber, and 3) continuous fluorescence measurements made in a flow-through cuvette containing receptor solution continuously pumped from a flow-through permeation chamber. In each case, the measured signal was a convolution of the time-dependent molecular flux (the desired information) and the characteristic response of the measurement system. Algorithms for deconvolution of the signal were derived theoretically. For the most complicated case, (3), the experimental confirmation is shown here, proving a time resolution on the order of half a minute.