Get in My Body: Drug Delivery
Daily insulin can be administered by various drug delivery methods.Copyright 2015 Megan Ketchum, College of Engineering, University of Houston
Students are challenged to think as biomedical engineers and brainstorm ways to administer medication to a patient who is unable to swallow. They learn about the advantages and disadvantages of current drug delivery methods—oral, injection, topical, inhalation and suppository—and pharmaceutical design considerations, including toxicity, efficacy, size, solubility/bioavailability and drug release duration. They apply their prior knowledge about human anatomy, the circulatory system, polymers, crystals and stoichiometry to real-world biomedical applications. A Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation and worksheets are provided. This lesson prepares students for the associated activity in which they create and test large-size drug encapsulation prototypes to provide the desired delayed release and duration timing.
Pharmaceuticals are commonly used to relieve pain, fight disease and stabilize hormone levels. Each drug has its own method of action and is designed by chemical engineers to reach specific body locations. In order to reach its destination, a drug may pass through the harsh conditions of the stomach or be injected through the skin. Engineers design drug encapsulations to release drugs at the optimal time or alter drug properties to increase bioavailability through cocrystallization. These sorts of inventions and technologies designed by engineers are focused on improving our health, happiness and safety.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Describe the advantages and disadvantages of drug administration methods.
- List pharmaceutical design considerations.
- Discuss new drug administration methods and current drug delivery research.