Transdermal drug delivery systems are used to deliver anaesthesia and pain medications through transdermal route. Nurses, doctors and pain management specialists use transdermal drugs to treat patients with severe or chronic pain conditions. Health care workers should be educated about transdermal targeted drug delivery in order to properly and safely prescribe and administer transdermal drugs to patients.

Transdermal manufacturers offer online transdermal drugs education and many hospitals and medical organizations provide courses pertaining to transdermal drugs online and onsite. Learn about transdermal drug therapy and how they deliver drugs through the skin. Make sure your transdermal drug delivery systems education and training includes:

1. Getting educated about transdermal drug delivery system application.

2. Finding out about companies focused on targeted drug delivery.

3. Learning about prescribing and administering transdermal drugs.

Action Steps
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Research the uses of transdermal drug delivery systems

Transdermal drug delivery systems are used to treat a variety of severe and chronic pain conditions. It's important for nurses, therapists and home health aides to learn about transdermal drug systems, the conditions they treat, and proper dosage and application. Complete continuing education courses that focus on transdermal drugs.

I recommend: Oxford Journals educates doctors, nurses and pharmacists about transdermal drug delivery systems and their side effects, dosage instructions and efficiency in pain management. Contraception Online offers continuing education credits with a focus on learning about transdermal contraceptive drug delivery.

Get educated about transdermal drugs and their effectiveness

Transdermal targeted drug delivery differs from other methods in its administration and dosage, as well as its potential side effects. Nurses and pharmacists should be educated about the unique properties of transdermal drugs. Learn about transdermal drugs that are used to treat pain, deliver hormone therapy and provide contraception.

I recommend: The Saint Louis College of Pharmacy offers a course in pharmaceutics that focuses on transdermal drug delivery systems and their applications. These courses will benefit pharmacists seeking to enhance their knowledge of transdermal drug delivery. MIT Professional Education offers courses on controlled release technology in pharmaceuticals, including transdermal drugs.

Learn about prescribing and administering transdermal drugs

Transdermal drugs can have a variety of side effects, interactions with other medications and reactions in patients with drug allergies, just like drugs taken orally. It's important for patient safety and health care quality that nurses, doctors, therapists and health care workers educate themselves about the proper administration of transdermal drugs.

I recommend: Attend the course offered by RNCEUS about analgesic pain management and treatment, which includes information about transdermal pain management drug delivery systems. The Alaska Nurses Association offers courses for health care workers all over the country to learn about transdermal drug delivery systems. Nurses and pharmacists can earn continuing education credits by completing this course.

Transdermal manufacturers give pharmaceutical companies a wide variety of options because their discreet products are popular with patients who have an active lifestyle or with patients who have a hard time with injection administration. Companies focused on targeted drug delivery can offer either an active or passive drug infusion, and method determined is product and manufacturer specific.

Transdermal drug delivery systems can be found in numerous locations online. Transdermal drugs can range from hormone replacement therapy to antidepressants to even pain killers. Nicotine patches are another popular transdermal product as are patches that prevent osteoporosis, nitroglycerin patches and lidocaine patches.

To make the most of your patch and transdermal drugs online search:

1. Start with information on passive transdermal manufacturers.

2. Move on to manufacturers that make active patches for transdermal drugs. Online you can find a variety of methods also for making the patches active.

3. Work with the Federal Drug Administration to ensure the safety and appropriateness of your potential product.

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Find passive transdermal manufacturers

Start with transdermal manufacturers who make passive transdermal manufacturers, meaning that the product is simply absorbed through skin with no outside help.

I recommend: Look at the EpiDerm In Vitro Transdermal Drug Delivery Measurement system from MatTek. Consider the transdermal targeted drug delivery products from Aveva Drug Delivery Systems. Check out the transdermal options from Cirrus Pharmaceuticals. Look to BioChemics as an additional transdermal technology provider.

Look at more transdermal drug delivery systems and suppliers

Find out more about transdermal manufacturers who offer transdermal patches as well as delivery systems for transdermal drugs.

I recommend: Purchase custom die cut drug patches for your business from Pacific Die Cut Industries. Look to 3M for transdermal systems, transdermal components and transdermal manufacturing. While Noven does seek out higher margin projects that they can market ourselves, under the right circumstances, they may consider development projects for a third party. Lavipharm is another leading transdermal company.

Deliver transdermal drugs through iontophoresis

Use transdermal drug delivery systems for the process of iontophoresis. This process includes using a low-level electrical current to help diffuse the drug through the skin to the underlying tissue.

I recommend: Look at the actively driven transdermal patch capabilities of Minotech Engineering. Vyteris’ proprietary active transdermal drug delivery technology also relies on the process of iontophoresis. Click on their video to see a visual representation of the process. The U-Strip Transdermal Drug Delivery System from Dermisonics also uses active delivery.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before jumping into the field of transdermal drugs, make sure that the patches themselves have been consumer tested for comfort and durability.
• •  Only a transdermal drug that has molecules small enough to pass through the skin membrane will work on transdermal patches. Drugs such as insulin are simply too big to pass through the skin's surface.

The nicotine patch is probably the most well-known and widely used example of a transdermal drug delivery system. Birth control patches and patches for the treatment of osteoporosis do the same thing as the nicotine patch: deliver drugs or hormones through the patient's skin in a controlled, continuous dose.

While some medications may not be able to permeate the skin on their own, transdermal drug delivery systems are advancing fast to remedy this with new technology like microneedles. A basic understanding of transdermal delivery systems and the associated key terms will help you keep pace with rapid technological advances.

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Transdermal drug delivery systems

Transdermal drug delivery systems deliver drugs through the patient's skin instead of by piercing into the body and then releasing the drug below the skin, as with a needle.

I recommend: Analog Dialogue explains the difference between active and passive transdermal drug delivery systems and how they're applied.

Adhesive Patches

Within the context of transdermal drug delivery systems, adhesive patches adhere to your skin and release medication into your bloodstream at a controlled rate.

I recommend: Contract Pharma examines the characteristics of various adhesive patch technologies.

First-pass effect

The first-pass effect refers to an oral drug having to pass through the digestive tract and be metabolized in the patient's liver before finally entering the bloodstream. Because transdermal delivery bypasses the digestive system, drugs delivered via a transdermal delivery system are not subject to first-pass effect.

I recommend: WrongDiagnosis.com explains first-pass effect, also known as first-pass metabolism.

Microneedles

Microneedles are tiny needles sometimes attached to a transdermal medication patch to facilitate the passage of medication through the skin.

I recommend: Medical News Today evaluates one of the first peer-reviewed studies on human subjects concerning the use of microneedles to deliver transdermal medication.

Drug In Adhesive

Drug In Adhesive (DIA) transdermal patches have the medication implanted directly into the adhesive, as opposed to in a separate layer. DIA transdermal patches often provide more controlled dosage over time than separate layer patches.

I recommend: 3M explains the advantages of Drug In Adhesive transdermal delivery systems.

Subcutaneous, intramuscular and intravenous

Subcutaneous, intramuscular and intravenous drug delivery are just a few of the delivery methods that researchers in the field of transdermal drug delivery systems are attempting to surpass or replace.

I recommend: Understanding how varied drug delivery systems differ from transdermal drug delivery, and how they compare to each other, is critical to understanding the particular advantages and disadvantages of transdermal drug delivery. Merck defines, describes and compares a wide variety of drug delivery methods, including subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous and transdermal systems.