* Oral drug delivery: Emulsions may provide an efficient means of administering drugs that are poorly soluble or have low bioavailability or dissolution rates, increasing both dissolution rates and absorption to increase bioavailability and improve bioavailability. By increasing surface area provided by an emulsion, dissolution rates and absorption rates of drugs are increased, improving their bioavailability.
* Topical formulations: Emulsions are widely utilized as bases for topical drug delivery formulations such as creams, lotions and ointments. Their incorporation allows lipophilic as well as hydrophilic drugs to be mixed together for maximum skin penetration and permeation of active ingredients.
* Parenteral drug delivery: Emulsions serve as carriers for intravenous or intramuscular administration of drugs, solubilizing lipophilic ones while protecting from degradation and decreasing injection site irritation. Examples include propofol as a widely used anesthetic and lipid-based solutions used for total parenteral nutrition delivery.
* Ocular Drug Delivery: Emulsions can be used to formulate eye drops and other ocular drug delivery systems, increasing drug retention time in the eye and permeating through corneal barriers more easily while providing sustained release of active ingredients and thus increasing therapeutic efficacy.
* Nasal and Pulmonary Drug Delivery: Emulsions can be an ideal vehicle for creating nasal sprays and inhalable drug products, enhancing drug absorption through nasal and pulmonary mucosa while providing sustained release with reduced local irritation.
* Vaccine Adjuvants: Emulsions can serve as vaccine adjuvants by strengthening immune responses against specific antigens. Emulsions can enhance antigen solubility and uptake by immune cells while simultaneously providing controlled release, amplifying an immunological response and thus amplifying its effect.
* Taste Masking: Emulsions can be used to encase bitter or otherwise unpleasant-tasting drugs, masking their taste and increasing patient compliance - particularly with pediatric formulations.
* Cosmeceuticals: Emulsions are widely utilized in cosmeceuticals products that combine cosmetic and pharmaceutical properties. These emulsions act as carriers for active ingredients like vitamins, antioxidants and skin lightening agents to provide improved skin penetration and increased stability.