title: Evaluation of Laser-Assisted Trans-Nail Drug Delivery with Optical Coherence Tomography.
abstract: The nail provides a functional protection to the fingertips and surrounding tissue from external injuries. The nail plate consists of three layers including dorsal, intermediate, and ventral layers. The dorsal layer consists of compact, hard keratins, limiting topical drug delivery through the nail. In this study, we investigate the application of fractional CO₂ laser that produces arrays of microthermal ablation zones (MAZs) to facilitate drug delivery in the nails. We utilized optical coherence tomography (OCT) for real-time monitoring of the laser-skin tissue interaction, sparing the patient from an invasive surgical sampling procedure. The time-dependent OCT intensity variance was used to observe drug diffusion through an induced MAZ array. Subsequently, nails were treated with cream and liquid topical drugs to investigate the feasibility and diffusion efficacy of laser-assisted drug delivery. Our results show that fractional CO₂ laser improves the effectiveness of topical drug delivery in the nail plate and that OCT could potentially be used for in vivo monitoring of the depth of laser penetration as well as real-time observations of drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. mengtsan@gmail.com.|Medical Imaging Research Center, Institute for Radiological Research, Chang Gung University and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan. mengtsan@gmail.com.|Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan. mengtsan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Meng-Tsan
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. trendy1991818@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ting-Yen
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan. suchin@adm.cgmh.org.tw.|College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. suchin@adm.cgmh.org.tw.
authors.forename: Su-Chin
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan. charlene870811@gmail.com.|College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. charlene870811@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chau Yee
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Electro-Optical Science and Technology, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan. yajulee@ntnu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Ya-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. jdlee@mail.cgu.edu.tw.|Department of Neurosurgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, LinKou 33305, Taiwan. jdlee@mail.cgu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Jiann-Der
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan. dermadr@hotmail.com.|College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. dermadr@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Chih-Hsun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D054020:Lasers, Gas; D009262:Nails / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*
keywords: drug delivery; fractional laser; laser ablation; nail; optical coherence tomography