Patent ID: 7137975

Claim:
A method of increasing the battery life of an alternating current iontophoretic device used to transport a compound of interest through a localized region of a patient's body tissue, comprising: (a) applying an alternating current to a localized region of the body tissue having an inherent barrier limiting the transport of compounds therethrough, the alternating current generated using an alternating current iontophoretic device and applied at a level sufficient both to decrease the electrical resistance of the body tissue to a target resistance level and to maintain the electrical resistance of the body tissue at said target level; and (b) either prior to, during, or both prior to and during application of the alternating current, delivering to the localized region of body tissue an amount of at least one barrier-modifying agent effective to alter the penetration barrier so as to reduce the voltage level necessary to achieve and maintain said target resistance level thereby facilitating transport of a compound of interest across the body tissue; wherein the barrier-modifying agent is effective to reduce the voltage required to achieve and maintain said target electrical resistance by at least 20% as compared to the voltage required to achieve and maintain said target electrical resistance in the absence of the barrier-modifying agent.