Depth Profiling of 4-Acetamindophenol-Doped Poly(lactic acid) Films Using Cluster Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

Published

June 1, 2004

Author(s)

Christine M. Mahoney, S V. Roberson, John G. Gillen

Abstract

The feasibility of cluster Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) for depth profiling of drug delivery systems is explored. Behaviors of various biodegradable polymer films under dynamic SF₅⁺ primary ion bombardment was investigated including several films doped with model drugs. The SF₅⁺ depth profiles obtained from these biodegradable polymer films showed very little degradation in secondary ion signal as a function of increasing primary ion dose, and it was discovered that the characteristic ion signals for the polymers remained constant for ion doses up to ~5 x10¹⁵ ions/cm². These results suggest that the polyester structure of the biodegradable polymers studied here allow for a greater ability to depth profile due to ease of main chain scission. Attempts were also made to depth profile through a series of polylactic acid (PLA) films containing varying concentrations of the drug 4-acetamidophenol. The depth profiles obtained form these films show very little degradation in both the 4-acetamidophenol molecular ion and PLA fragment ion signals as a function of increasing SF₅⁺ primary ion dose. Similar results were obtained with theophylline doped PLA films. These results show that in some drug delivery devices, it is possible to monitor the distribution of a drug as a function of depth by using cluster primary ion beams.

Citation

Analytical Chemistry

Volume

76

Issue

No. 11

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

Cluster SF₅⁺, controlled release, depth profile, drug delivery, TOF-SIMS

Citation

Mahoney, C. , Roberson, S. and Gillen, J. (2004), Depth Profiling of 4-Acetamindophenol-Doped Poly(lactic acid) Films Using Cluster Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, Analytical Chemistry (Accessed September 18, 2025)