Foreword

Pharmaceutical knowledge has grown exponentially over the last 30 years. We now have a much clearer understanding of how drugs are absorbed into, distributed within, and cleared from the body.

The potency of agents with which we deal continues to increase, and our ability to unravel mechanisms of action proceeds. New drugs –in particular peptides, proteins and other biological response modifiers- are being developed and new challenges await pharmaceutical scientists. Controlled drug delivery represents a field that must keep pace with changing nature of chemotherapy. Tighter control of drug input into the body in both quantitative and temporal senses is crucial, and fabrication of new delivery systems must respond to this demand for increased sophistication.

Transdermal delivery has become an important means of drug administration. A number of scientists in this area has dramatically increased and multiple symposia have focused on the subject.

The objective of this book is to provide a general and an updated overview of the theoretical and practical aspects of iontophoresis, electroporation, sonophoresis, microneedles, chemical enhancers and transdermal nanocarriers systems on the delivery of transdermal drugs. Such a generalized approach would be helpful in drug discovery, drug delivery, drug design and toxicological research.

The contributors to this text have been directed to emphasize current above mentioned technologies involved in transdermal drug delivery. Authors were selected for their knowledge and reputation in their subject area, and for their ability to address objectively the topics of this book. I believe that they have performed this task effectively, producing a text that will facilitate and optimize future developmental programs in transdermal drug delivery.