Spatially constrained localized transport regions due to skin electroporation

Rapid, controlled molecular transport across human skin is of great interes t for transdermal drug delivery and minimally invasive chemical sensing. Sh ort, high-voltage pulses have been shown previously to create localized tra nsport regions in the skin. Here, we show that these regions can be constra ined to occur at specific sites using electrically insulating masks that re strict the;field lines. The increase in total ionic and molecular transport per area was comparable to the levels observed in unconstrained electropor ation of human skin. Constraining the area of intervention to encompass sma ll areas of interest, a primary feature in the design of microdevices for t ransdermal drug delivery, can provide the same levels of flux as the uncons trained case. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.