Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-9-2024
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Biomedical Engineering
First Advisor
Glenn Walker
Second Advisor
Thomas Werfel
Third Advisor
Brenton Laing
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a clinical diagnosis for patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD). An inadequate response to the dosage or duration of antidepressant medication can lead to the diagnosis of TRD. This diagnosis is common in up to 50% of patients with MDD following treatment. Microdosing of classical psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has been shown to have positive cognitive and therapeutic effects on patients with TRD. However, issues of patient compliance to the complex regimen and abuse/diversion of the schedule I controlled substances remain unresolved. The goal of this project is to create an implantable, surface eroding drug delivery device that releases microdoses of LSD into the bloodstream for treatment of TRD. The use of cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP) and Pluronic F-127 (P) as polymers for the device allows for surface eroding and nontoxic properties while interacting with the human body. The technique of spin coating is used to create the thin, stackable films to construct the device. Spin coating provides direct deposition of alternating layers within the device and has tunable properties that aid in altering the thickness of each layer. Determining a spin curve is the most important step in this process, as it will create the standard for thickness of the films at varying spin conditions. From the curves produced, any film thickness can be obtained, ranging from less than 10 micrometers to 500 micrometers. Using the spin curve data provides effective results in the fabrication of a multi-layer device. The multi-layer device alternates between an “active” drug layer and a “blank” non-drug layer. The spin coating technique provides adherence to alternating layers without the use of an additional solvent, while also maintaining separation of each individual layer. Within this research, spin coating has been shown to obtain a wide range of film thicknesses for varying applications of drug targeting, while also proving separation of “active” and “blank” layers.
Recommended Citation
Nevils, Katherine, "Spin Coating Multilayer Polymer Films to Improve the Consistency and Longevity of Interval Drug Release" (2024). Honors Theses. 3050.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3050
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.