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Magnetophoresis: Skin Penetration Enhancement by a Magnetic Field

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Book cover Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Physical Methods in Penetration Enhancement

Abstract

Magnetophoresis is the term used to describe the enhancement of drug permeation across a biological barrier by the application of a magnetic field. This is a relatively new field of skin penetration enhancement that has been pioneered by two main groups of scientists and is now in commercial development. Administration of static and pulsed electromagnetic fields has been shown to enhance skin penetration of a range of small molecules including lidocaine hydrochloride, diclofenac, 5-aminolevulinic acid, naltrexone hydrochloride and dipeptide alanine-tryptophan (Ala-Trp). The mechanism of action is suggested to be diamagnetic repulsion of the molecule down the magnetic field into the skin, although there is also some evidence of potential transient stratum corneum barrier reduction. Magnetophoresis has also been shown to effectively enhance drug flow into microneedle-porated skin to provide a synergistic permeation enhancement. An advantage of this technology is that it can be miniaturized and does not require an external energy source; thus a magnetic array can be incorporated into a transdermal patch or used as an applicator for a topical cream or gel. This chapter provides a critical appraisal of magnetophoresis based on the current published literature and also provides an insight into some of the developmental data not yet published.

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Acknowledgements and Disclosures

The authors thank the scientists who contributed to the research in particular Sarika Namjoshi, Gayathri Krishnan, Yousuf Mohammed and the staff at OBJ Pty. Ltd.

Heather Benson is a shareholder in OBJ Pty. Ltd.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Heather A. E. Benson

  2. OBJ Pty. Ltd., Perth, WA, Australia

    Matthew McIldowie

  3. Dermatology Research Centre, Translational Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Tarl Prow

Authors
  1. Heather A. E. Benson
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  2. Matthew McIldowie
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  3. Tarl Prow
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heather A. E. Benson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Apoteka “Beograd”, Belgrade, Serbia

    Nina Dragicevic

  2. San Francisco, California, USA

    Howard I. Maibach

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Benson, H.A.E., McIldowie, M., Prow, T. (2017). Magnetophoresis: Skin Penetration Enhancement by a Magnetic Field. In: Dragicevic, N., I. Maibach, H. (eds) Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Physical Methods in Penetration Enhancement. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53273-7_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53273-7_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-53271-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-53273-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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