Controlled porosity osmotic pump for the delivery of flurbiprofen

Controlled porosity osmotic pump contains water-soluble additives in the coating membrane, which in contact with aqueous environment dissolves and results in formation of micro porous membrane. The resulting membrane is substantially permeable to both water and dissolved drug. The drug release from this type of system is independent of pH and follows zero order kinetics. In the present investigation, effort has been made to study release mechanism of drug having low water solubility by means of controlled porosity osmotic pump. The capsule membrane was prepared by phase inversion technique. The phase inversion was carried by dipping the stainless steel mould in a 15% solution of cellulose acetate containing varying amounts of pore-forming agent, glycerol (50% to 70% w/w), followed by quenching in an aqueous solution (10% w/v glycerol), which resulted in the formation of the asymmetric membrane. The delivery orifices so formed were confirmed by release of an encapsulated dye from the capsule and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The drug selected for this study, Flurbiprofen, has low water solubility and hence is unable to create osmotic pressure to cause drug release. To enhance the solubility and its osmotic pressure, this study was conducted with a solubility enhancer sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). The quantity of SLS was predetermined by conducting a solubility study of flurbiprofen with SLS. Release rate studies revealed that less than 10% of drug was released from the system without SLS, while about 75% release was observed from systems containing SLS. The release rate increased as the concentration of pore forming agent increased.