| abstract |
A transdermal drug delivery device (10) which can be worn by a human patient for 24 hours while continuously delivering a drug to the patient for approximately 16 hours is produced by a particular method of manufacture. The device (10) is particularly useful with respect to the delivery of drugs which, if delivered for 24 hours, result in problems such as drug tolerance (e.g., nitroglycerin) or sleep disorders (e.g., nicotine). The drug is loaded into the device (10) in a concentration such that the drug becomes depleted from the device after approximately 16 hours to the extent that the rate of delivery of the drug to the patient is slowed to such an extent that the pharmacological effect of the drug on the patient becomes substantially nonexistent. The device (10) is in the form of a laminated composite that is adpated to be adhered to a predetermined area of unbroken skin or mucosal tissue. The individual layers of the device include an upper backing or 'outer skin' layer (11), an anchor adhesive layer (12), a source layer (13) onto which the drug and/or vehicles are deposited initially, a contact adhesive (14) which is adapted to adhere to the skin or mucosa, and a release liner (15). |