A problem for drug release from 2D polymeric systems

A nonlinear diffusion problem for drug release from 2D polymeric systems with finite dissolution rate is considered. The numerical solutions of such problems were obtained under some constraints in respect to the system geometry, the type of adsorption isotherm and concentration dependent diffusivity [Frenning, G., Stromme, M., 2003. Drug release modeled by dissolution, diffusion and immobilization. Int. J. Pharm. 250, 137-145; Frenning, G., Brohede, U., Stromme, M., 2005. Finite element analysis of the release of slowly dissolving drugs from cylindrical matrix systems. J. Control. Release 107, 320-329]. It is derived a numerical approach to solving a generalized problem, which avoids the above limitations. The proposed numerical scheme based on finite element domain approximation and time difference method is used for simulation of 2D drug release under various model parameters. The effects of drug adsorption and concentration dependent drug diffusivity are demonstrated. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.