Lidocaine Release from Polycaprolactone Threads

In the field of resorbable devices, drug eluting sutures represent an applied research field on which the reliability of both production processes and mathematical prediction modeling were tested. Indeed, poly-e-caprolactone pellets were compounded with lidocaine and then extruded to obtain highly loaded threads. The complete and rapid release demonstrated that the extrusion process does not alter the drug, which is confirmed to be embedded in an open porous matrix, being free to be solvated by uptaken water and to diffuse. Release profile and polymer degradation were simulated through a mathematical model based on conservation laws that allowed to assess release kinetic and to confirm the understanding of involved phenomena, as it fit experimental data. Reliability and robustness of chosen model allow to monitor the overall quality of manufacturing because any discrepancy between experimental and simulated data can be adopted to assess drug distribution uniformity within the device.