Document Type

Article

Publication Title

PLoS ONE

Abstract

Intranasal olfactory drug delivery provides a non-invasive method that bypasses the Blood-Brain-Barrier and directly delivers medication to the brain and spinal cord. However, a device designed specifically for olfactory delivery has not yet been found. Methods: In this study, a new delivery method was proposed that utilized electrophoretic forces to guide drug particles to the olfactory region. The feasibility of this method was numerically evaluated in both idealized 2-D and anatomically accurate 3-D nose models. The influence of nasal airflow, electrode strength, and drug release position were also studied on the olfactory delivery efficiency. Findings: Results showed that by applying electrophoretic forces, the dosage to the olfactory region was significantly enhanced. In both 2-D and 3-D cases, electrophoretic-guided delivery achieved olfactory dosages nearly two orders of magnitude higher than that without electrophoretic forces. Furthermore, releasing drugs into the upper half of the nostril (i.e., partial release) led to olfactory dosages two times higher than releasing drugs over the entire area of the nostril. By combining the advantages of pointed drug release and appropriate electrophoretic guidance, olfactory dosages of more than 90% were observed as compared to the extremely low olfactory dosage (

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0086593

Publication Date

1-31-2014

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