Abstract
The diffusion of water into the developmental drug-release polymer addition cured silicone has been investigated using {sup 3}He ion scanning micro-beam techniques developed at the University of Surrey. Polymer samples loaded with 15% by weight of the drug chlorohexidine diacetate were immersed in a water based phosphate buffered saline solution for times of 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week and 1 month. The results showed that as the water diffused into the polymer it associated with the drug allowing its release by diffusion through the network formed by water filled pores. Future improvements to the techniques are discussed including the use of an array of CdZnTe detectors.