“Rip the bandage off quickly and get it over with!”
We’ve all been subjected to the discomfort of pulling a bandage off. Maybe it’s because the adhesive is too strong, but then again, what if it was weaker? Would the bandage have just fallen off when it wasn’t supposed to?
The strength of your adhesive is a crucial concern with transdermal patches, which attach to a patient’s skin and deliver a steady drug dose over a set period.
Helping our customers choose the suitable material for their product is one of Strouse’s main focuses because the essentiality of selecting an adhesive that fits your transdermal patch cannot be overstated. If the adhesive fails, the entire patch fails.
We will discuss the consequences of choosing an inadequate adhesive for transdermal patches to prepare you for selecting the right material for your project.
5 Reasons the Wrong Adhesive Causes a Transdermal Patch to Fail
Transdermal patches might be one of the many exciting and rapidly growing advancements in healthcare, but their application can only go right if the elements come together correctly.
Failure is possible in multiple ways when using a transdermal patch. Aside from the drug's performance, the wrong adhesive might create several problems that could take down the whole process.
Here’s how transdermal patches can take a negative turn with the wrong adhesive.
1. IRRITATING THE SKIN WHILE ATTACHED
It could be a significant issue if the adhesive makes the transdermal patch constantly feel itchy and uncomfortable or causes a rash and other problems when removed. In addition to harming the patient’s quality of life, a highly unpleasant solution might dissuade a patient from wanting to continue treatment.
2. HURTING THE SKIN/PATIENT WHEN THE PATCH IS REMOVED
Even if the transdermal patch is comfortable to wear, if removing it causes pain, this might also cause additional medical problems and side effects for the patient. More than being painful, if the patch physically damages the area of skin underneath, it becomes vulnerable to infection or other issues.
3. GETTING WATERLOGGED/NOT BEING WATERPROOF
Waterproofing could be necessary depending on how long a patch is supposed to stay on someone. If a long-term patch gets waterlogged, the adhesive will fail and slip off, or the medicine delivery could be disrupted even if the patch stays on.
4. FALLING OFF TOO EARLY
Applying the patch is the first step, but many medical adhesives now include a long-term controlled release which requires stronger stick-to-skin adhesives.
The transdermal patch’s adhesive must tolerate friction from clothing and other environmental elements from everyday life. If a person’s shirt causes the patch to peel off too soon, it will disrupt the flow of their medication, and the patch will fail to do its job.
5. BLOCKING THE DELIVERY OF THE MEDICINE
If you have the perfect adhesive in every other way, but it is too thick or thin to allow the drug to be delivered exactly as required, it’s simply the wrong adhesive. Proper adhesives have no margin of error and must be precisely as thick or thin as needed for the given patch.
What Does a Transdermal Patch Need to Accomplish?
After highlighting the issues caused by an adhesive mismatch, you might wonder, What makes an adhesive successful on a transdermal patch?
Aside from being pain-free, your medicated patch needs to accomplish the critical points of its role before it can be deemed successful.
ATTACHES AND DETACHES AS NEEDED
The adhesive must hit a happy medium of being able to stick to a patient’s skin for just as long as it is needed — no more, no less. The backing liner also requires the ability to peel off without taking the adhesive with it.
RELEASES THE DRUG ON SCHEDULE
When a patient pulls the backing off the adhesive to stick it to their arm, the medicine shouldn’t start releasing prematurely as it interacts with the air or anything other than the skin. This can be especially tricky in patches where the drug is blended directly with the adhesive.
ALLOWS THE DRUG TO BE RELEASED
On the other hand, the adhesive has to allow the drug to be released in the right dose on the correct schedule. It can’t be so thick as to block the drug from entering the patient’s bloodstream through their skin or so thin as to release too much at once.
IT FITS COMFORTABLY ON THE SKIN
Chemistry has to be considered, including how the adhesive, drug, and environment might all interact to ensure the skin isn’t hurt or irritated while it’s attached or removed.
When those elements have been considered, and you’ve checked all the requirements, you’ll know your adhesive is ready.
What Makes an Effective Transdermal Patch?
A transdermal patch has one overarching function: to assist a person’s health. Brilliant minds in medicine invented transdermal patches as a new method to heal or maintain health, and the adhesive component must complement the other parts of the patch and allow it to work as intended.
The ideal adhesive will be sized and shaped to precision, helping to make sure the patient using the patch receives the treatment they need without sacrificing their comfort.
You need someone you can count on when searching for the right combination of materials, design, and production means to build transdermal patches. If you’re at the point where you’ve developed a transdermal solution, it might be time to reach out to a flexible material converter.
The need for medicated transdermal patches continues to grow, and converters like Strouse are working on keeping up with all the changes and advancements to play a part in crafting transdermal patches.
If you’re interested in creating a product with increased conversion speeds, improved accuracy and quality, sterilization simplification, and more, you can get your guide to production.
