An O / W emulsion non-solvent addition method was used to prepare ethyleellulose (EC) microcapsules of water soluble pharmaceutical (theophylline). The solvent and non-solvent reagents used in this work were toluene and cyclohexane. The effects of polymer concentration, core wall ratio and particle size on the kinetics as well as the dissolution rate of the drug were investigated. The results show that the dissolution rate increases with the increasing of polymer concentration and core wall ratio. The release of microcapsules prepared with different procedures can be selectively profiled with first order and Higuchi matrix kinetic models. An O / W emulsion non-solvent addition method was used to prepare ethyleellulose (EC) microcapsules of water soluble pharmaceutical (theophylline). The solvent and non-solvent reagents used in this work were toluene and cyclohexane. The effects of polymer concentration, core wall ratio and particle size on the kinetics as well as the dissolution rate of the drug were investigated. The results show that the dissolution rate increases with the increasing of polymer concentration and core wall ratio. The release of microcapsules prepared with different procedures can be selectively profiled with first order and Higuchi matrix kinetic models.