The Computational Simulation of Electrophoretic Focusing and Navigation for Intranasal Target Drug Delivery with Comsol

Direct nose-to-brain drug delivery circumvents the blood-brain-barrier and has multiple advantages over intravenous delivery. However, its application is limited by the extremely low delivery efficiency to the olfactory region where drugs can more efficiently enter the brain. This study evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of targeted drug delivery with electrophoretic forces in a 2D human nose model. Comsol modules of AC/DC Electromagnetics, CFD, and Particle tracing modules were used to simulate the effect of electric field arrangements, particle release position, and particle charge on the delivery efficiency. It was observed that applying electrophoretic forces significantly enhanced the dosage to the olfactory region. Electrophoreticguided delivery achieved olfactory dosages of two orders higher than that without electrophoretic forces. Results of this pilot study hereof have implications for the development of effective intranasal drug delivery devices that target at olfactory epitheliums.