Date of Award

12-2014

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Biological Engineering

Abstract

Compromised liver and/or kidney function reduces the acceptable dosage of a variety of medications that can be administered to patients. These patients still have a need for drugs such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antivirals, and antibiotics. The project goal is to provide a drug delivery system to accommodate these reduced dosage limits with added therapeutic benefits to address symptoms of liver or kidney failure. Localized drug delivery allows for a smaller, concentrated dose rather than inundating the patient's system with the drug of interest. Human serum albumin (HSA) is a researched candidate for drug delivery with therapeutic properties. HSA was tested as a drug delivery vehicle for localized, percutaneous drug release aided by a displacing compound and changes in temperature and ultrasound generated by an external device. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), UV/Vis spectroscopy, and optical microscopy were employed in verifying drug binding, release, and effectiveness. The optimization of the proposed drug release method, the design of the device to promote drug delivery, and the testing of the drug delivery system with in vitro tissue testing were performed to validate the designed system.

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Faculty Mentor

Elizabeth Vargis

Departmental Honors Advisor

V. Dean Adams