Figure 6.

Cumulative permeation of lidocaine delivered passively by discharged microcapsules. Lidocaine HCl 5% was added for 1 h after activation (10 min) of gel formulation containing microcapsules at 0 (control) 0.5, 0.75 and 1 mg/cm² skin (n ≥ 6). After 1 h the lidocaine HCl was removed, and the skins were left in the diffusion cell for up to 5 h to allow subcutaneous diffusion of the delivered lidocaine. Error bars represent means ± SD. The amount of lidocaine delivered by the microcapsule gel was significantly greater than the control (p < 0.001).