Iontophoresis Methods

• US 20120220923A1
• Filed: 05/09/2012
• Published: 08/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tusker Medical, Inc. (Smith & Nephew PLC)
• Original Assignee: Acclarent Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Morriss, John, Liu, Greg, Hames, Kate
• Granted Patent: US 9,392,229 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 11/00 Methods or devices for treatment of the ears or hearing sense implantable prostheses that substitute or replace internal ear parts, e.g. ear-drums, A61F2/18; methods or devices to cause a change in the state of auditory consciousness A61M21/00; electrotherapy applying electrical stimulation of the auditory system, or circuits therefor A61N1/36; radiotherapy using optical stimulation of the auditory system A61N5/06; electro-acoustic hearing aids H04R25/00; Non-electric hearing aids; Methods or devices for enabling ear patients to achieve auditory perception through physiological senses other than hearing sense; Protective devices for the ears, carried on the body or in the hand headwear, e.g. caps or helmets, with means for protecting the ears A42B1/0188, A42B3/16
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 31/167 having the nitrogen of a carboxamide group directly attached to the aromatic ring, e.g. lidocaine, paracetamol
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 33/00 Medicinal preparations containing inorganic active ingredients
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 9/0009 involving or responsive to electricity, magnetism or acoustic waves; Galenical aspects of sonophoresis, iontophoresis, electroporation or electroosmosis microelectromechanical systems A61K9/0097
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 19/00 Local anaesthesia syringes therefor A61M5/00; Hypothermia A61M5/42 takes precedence; cooling blood in a bypass of the arterial system A61M1/36
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2210/0662 Ears
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 31/00 Devices for introducing or retaining media, e.g. remedies, in cavities of the body A61M25/00 takes precedence ; introducing or retaining ophthalmic products into the ocular cavities A61F9/0008
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/30 Apparatus for iontophoresis, i.e. transfer of media in ionic state by an electromotoric force into the body, or cataphoresis
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/303 Constructional details electrodes for external use A61N1/0428
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/306 Arrangements where at least part of the apparatus is introduced into the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/325 for iontophoresis, i.e. transfer of media in ionic state by an electromotoric force into the body electrodes for external use A61N1/0428
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36021 for treatment of pain
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A method of anesthetizing a tympanic membrane of an ear of a patient using iontophoresis is disclosed. The method involves delivering an anesthetizing drug solution to an ear canal of the patient'"'"'s ear, wherein the drug solution includes an anesthetic and a buffer, and wherein the drug solution has a pH in the range of about 6.5 to about 7.5; and applying an amount of current to the drug solution, wherein the amount of applied current is increased at a rate of less than about 0.5 milliamp per second until a maximum current is achieved.

Claims

1-27. -27. (canceled)

28. An iontophoresis system for anesthetizing a tympanic membrane of an ear of a patient, the system comprising:

an anesthetizing drug solution including an anesthetic and a buffer and having a pH in the range of about 6.5 to about 7.5;

a current source; and

a controller coupled with the current source, the controller programmed to increase an amount of current applied to the drug solution at a rate of less than about 0.5 milliamp per second until a maximum current of less than about 1.0 milliamp is achieved.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the anesthetizing drug solution comprises a anesthetic, epinephrine and a buffer.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the drug solution comprises approximately 2%-4% of Lidocaine by weight and approximately 0.5%-1.0% of sodium bicarbonate by weight.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the drug solution has a pH range of about 6.8-7.2.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the controller is programmed to increase the amount of current applied to the drug solution at a rate of about 0.2 milliamp per second until a maximum current of about 0.8 milliamp is achieved.

33. The system of claim 28, wherein the current source comprises at least one ear electrode configured for placement in an ear canal of the patient.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the current source comprises two ear electrodes configured for placement in two ear canals of the patient, thus allowing for approximately simultaneous application of current to anesthetizing drug solution disposed in the two ear canals.