Prediction of phase behavior in microemulsion systems using artificial neural networks

Preliminary investigations have been conducted to assess the potential for using (back-propagation, feed-forward) artificial neural networks to predict the phase behavior of quaternary microemulsion-forming systems, with a view to employing this type of methodology in the evaluation of novel cosurfactants for the formulation of pharmaceutically acceptable drug-delivery systems. The data employed in training the neural networks related to microemulsion systems containing lecithin, isopropyl myristate, and water, together with different types of cosurfactants, including short- and medium-chain alcohols, amines, acids, and ethylene glycol monoalkyl ethers. Previously unpublished phase diagrams are presented for four systems involving the cosurfactants 2-methyl-2-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, and isopropanol, which, along with eight other published sets of data, are used to test the predictive ability of the trained networks. The pseudo-ternary phase diagrams for these systems are predicted using only four computed physicochemical properties for the cosurfactants involved. The artificial neural networks are shown to be highly successful in predicting phase behavior for these systems, achieving mean success rates of 96.7 and 91.6% for training and test data, respectively. The conclusion is reached that artificial neural networks can provide useful tools for the development of microemulsion-based drug-delivery systems. (C) 1997 Academic Press.