• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.32-45
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• 2000

Background : Critical pathway is an optional sequencing and timing of interventions by physicians, nurses, and other staff for a particular diagnosis or procedure, designed to minimize delays and resource utilization, and to maximize quality of care; abbreviated versions of case management plans that show critical outcome and key incidents that occur in a predictable and timely fashion to achieve an appropriate length of stay. This study is to develop a critical pathway for vaginal delivery and cesarean section to assess the degree of contentment of the patients and medical personnel and to implement clinical application to see how we could meet the need to guide patients to achieve continuum of care. Method : Critical pathways were developed for normal vaginal delivery and casarean section. LOS(length of stay) target for vaginal delivery was 1 day after delivery & 5 days after C-section. It was distributed to the mother at the OPD and explained thoroughly. It was applied when patients got into the Labor & Delivery Floor. We applied total of 42 patients (30 normal deliveries & 12 C-sections) from February to March, 2000. We performed patient satisfaction survey to all 42 patients, 24 nurses, and 7 residents for internal customer satisfaction. Results : Twenty six patients out of 42 responded to the survey. Twenty one patients out of 26 answered satisfactory. Eighty four percent of 21 respondents replied Critical pathway worked very well. Treatment column got the most compliance. Eleven out of 31 employees thought critical pathway is very helpful for the patient care. Eighteen people didn't see any difference. In their opinion, treatment got the least compliance, which is the contrary to patients opinion. Fifty eight percent of respondents thought that critical pathway can expedite early discharge. Conclusion : Patient satisfaction was higher than we expected but we still need to revise the form. It is recommended to analyze the cost and variance check in the future.

• Polymer Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2008

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.182-195
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• 2003

This study investigated the effects of triamcinolone acetonide by iontophoretic transdermal drug delivery on anti-inflammatory action into the rats and which had carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia and edema in the feet, trauma-induced tissue damage in the thigh. Each group was treated under the fellowing conditions. 1. Group I : Control group 2. Group II : Application of direct current 3. Group III : Application of 0.1$\%$ triamcinolone acetonide solution 4. Group IV : Iontophoresis of 0.1$\%$ triamcinolone acetonide solution The degree of anti-inflammation was evaluated by the paw withdrawal latency, the change in volume of foot the change of paw edema, histological change in rats. 1. In paw withdrawal latency, group IV showed the most significant therapeutic effect than the other groups at 0, 3, 6 and 9 hours(p < 0.001). 2. In paw edema experiment in the foot, group IV showed the most significant effect than group I at 0, 3, 6 and 9 hours. It meant that there was effective anti-inflammatory reaction in group I (p < 0.001). 3. In the light microscopic observation, group IV showed the most significant reduction of haemorrhage, hyperemia and infiltrative inflammation. From the results, the iontophoresis with triamcinolone acetonide is more effective than using each groups. It is one of the effective physical agent which delivered large molecular weight drug into the body. The continuous study is needed for many interesting issues of iontophoretic transdermal drug delivery in new future.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 1999

We have studied the transdermal flux of prostaglandin $E_1$ $(PGE_1)$ from a hydrogel patch through hairless mouse skin, to test the possibility of developing a transdermal delivery system. Karaya gum patch containing $PGE_1$ was prepared by casting method. $PGE_1$ was stable in the patch for 10 weeks. The effect of current application, enhancer (propylene glycol monolaurate : PGML), adhesive and patch thickness on the flux was studied using side-by-side diffusion cell. Passive flux of $PGE_1$ was negligible. Cathodal delivery increased the flux about 20 fold. As the concentrations of PGML increased, flux increased. When 5% PGML was used as the enhancer, maximum flux by cathodal iontophoresis was $55\;{\mu}g/cm^2\;hr$. It increased about 2 folds to $100\;{\mu}g/cm^2\;hr$, when the amount of PGML used was 9%. Large increase in flux and the decrease in time to reach maximum flux were observed when the skin was pretreated with neat PGML (maximum flux obtained was about $200\;{\mu}g/cm^2\;hr$). Use of adhesive decreased the flux significantly. To the contrary of our expectation, increase in current density decreased the flux. These flux data together with the stability data indicate that, though the onset of sufficient delivery occur after 1-2 hours of application, therapeutic amount of $PGE_1$ can be delivered through skin using iontophoresis and penetration enhancer.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2010

The objective of this work is to study transdermal delivery of donepezil hydrochloride (DH) using iontophoresis and to evaluate various factors which affect the transdermal transport. After the flux study using 4 kinds of hydrogel, hydrogel containing 8% poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was chosen as the hydrogel for further studies. Under experimental condition, DH was stable. We have studied the effect of polarity, current density, drug concentration and current profile on transdermal flux and compared the results. In vitro flux study was performed at $33^{\circ}C$, using side-by-side diffusion cell and full thickness hairless mouse skin. DH is positively charged at pH 7.4, and anodal delivery was much larger than cathodal and passive delivery at all current densities studied (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mA/$cm^2$). Cathodal delivery showed higher flux than passive flux. Flux increased as the concentration of DH in hydrogel increased. Pulsatile application of current showed smaller flux value than the application of continuous current. Based on these results, we have evaluated the possibility of delivering enough amount of DH to reach the therapeutic level. The maximum cumulative amount of DH transported for 12 hours was 455 ${\mu}g/cm^2{\cdot}hr$ when the amount of DH in the hydrogel was 3 mg/mL and the current density was 0.4 mA/$cm^2$. If the patch size is 10 $cm^2$, then we can deliver 4.6 mg for 12 hours. Because the daily dosage of DH is 5 mg, it seems possible to deliver clinically effective amount of DH using iontophoresis. This study also provides some information about the role of electrorepulsion and electroosmosis during the transport through skin.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2024

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive skin tumors, and conventional treatment modalities are not effective in treating advanced melanoma. Although immunotherapy is an effective treatment for melanoma, it has disadvantages, such as a poor response rate and serious systemic immune-related toxic side effects. The main solution to this problem is the use of biological materials such as hydrogels to reduce these side effects and amplify the immune killing effect against tumor cells. Hydrogels have great advantages as local slow-release drug carriers, including the ability to deliver antitumor drugs directly to the tumor site, enhance the local drug concentration in tumor tissue, reduce systemic drug distribution and exhibit good degradability. Despite these advantages, there has been limited research on the application of hydrogels in melanoma treatment. Therefore, this article provides a comprehensive review of the potential application of hydrogels in melanoma immunotherapy. Hydrogels can serve as carriers for sustained drug delivery, enabling the targeted and localized delivery of drugs with minimal systemic side effects. This approach has the potential to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy for melanoma. Thus, the use of hydrogels as drug delivery vehicles for melanoma immunotherapy has great potential and warrants further exploration.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.177-183
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• 2013

Development of nano-sized carriers including nanoparticles, nanoemulsions or liposomes holds great potential for advanced delivery systems for cancer immunotherapy, as such nanostructures can be used to more effectively manipulate or deliver immunologically active components to specific target sites. Successful development of nanotechnology based platform in the field of immunotherapy will allow the application of vaccines, adjuvants and immunomodulatory drugs that improve clinical outcomes for immunological diseases. Here, we review current nanoparticle-based platforms in the efficacious delivery of vaccines in cancer immunotherapy.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.spc
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• pp.103-112
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• 2010

Pellets, which are multiple-unit dosage systems, have the several therapeutic advantages over single-unit dosage systems in oral drug delivery. This review focuses on the current status and explores extrusion-spheronization technique with special attention to controlled-release application of pellets including coated pellets for delayed release formulations, coated pellets for colon delivery, coated pellets for sustained drug delivery, sustained-release matrix pellets, pellets compressed into tablets, bioadhesive pellets, floating pellets, and pelletization with solubilization techniques.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.95-107
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• 2018

This presentation will give an overview of Ca-aluminate based biomaterials and their proposed use within the field of nanostructured biomaterials. The paper describes typical features of Ca-aluminate materials with regard to technology, chemistry, biocompatibility including hemocompatibility and bioactivity, and developed microstructure. Special focus will be on the developed microstructure, which is in the nanosize range. Application possibilities within odontology, orthopedics, and drug delivery are presented. The nanostructure including pore size below 5 nm in these structures opens up this material for some use in specific dental-related applications in which antibacterial and bacteriostatic aspects are of importance, and as thin coating on implants within dental and orthopaedic applications. Nanosize porosity is essential in drug delivery systems for controlled release of medicaments. The priority field for Ca-aluminate biomaterials is implant materials, which use minimally-invasive techniques to offer in vivo, on-site developed biomaterials.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.81-83
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• 2008

The Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology has advanced in many application areas. In this research, two different types, cylinder and scaffold, of implantable Drug Delivery System (DDS) were fabricated using Nano Composite Deposition System (NCDS), one of the RP systems. The anti-cancer drug (5-fluorouracil, 5-FU), biodegradable polymer (PLGA(85: 15)), and bio ceramic (Hydroxyapatite, HA) were used to form drug-polymer composite material. Both types of DDS were evaluated in vivo environment for two weeks. For evaluation, the cumulative drug release and shape stability were measured. Test results showed that the scaffold DDS provide higher cumulative drug release and has better stability than cylinder DDS.