TRANSDERMAL THERAPY AND DIAGNOSIS BY IONTOPHORESIS

Iontophoresis, the use of an electric current to drive charged molecul es across the skin, has the potential to expand the feasible range of drugs for transdermal administration significantly, This method of del ivery is being examined carefully with respect to higher-molecular-wei ght therapeutics (in particular, peptides and small proteins), which c annot be absorbed following oral administration and for which, at this time, an invasive injection remains the only option, In addition, the procedure of so-called 'reverse' iontophoresis would appear to repres ent a truly noninvasive approach for diagnostic monitoring of blood ch emistry.