Apparatus and methods for noninvasive blood substance monitoring
First Claim
1. An apparatus for noninvasively collecting a desired substance from a subject comprising:
- a) a substance receiving medium the substance receiving medium being capable of receiving the desired substance such that a quantity of the substance, which directly correlates with a subject'"'"'s blood substance value, is capable of permeating the mucosal membrane into the substance receiving medium;
b) means for supporting the substance receiving medium against mucosal tissue of a subject from which the desired substance is to be collected; and
c) means for isolating the substance receiving medium from contaminating sources, such that a quantity of the substance to be collected permeates into the substance receiving medium in a concentration approximately proportional to the concentration of such substance in the subject'"'"'s blood.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to novel methods and apparatus for noninvasively collecting substances through mucosal tissues. The concentration of a substance in blood is monitored noninvasively by correlation with the amount of the substance which permeates a mucosal membrane into a substance receiving medium over a specified time period. The substance receiving medium may include an substance permeation enhancer capable of increasing the substance permeability across the mucosal membrane. The substance receiving medium is positioned against the mucosal membrane. After sufficient time delay, the substance receiving medium is removed and analyzed for the concentration of a substance to be measured using known analytical techniques.
The apparatus within the scope of the present invention includes means for supporting the substance receiving medium. The means for supporting the receiving medium provides an added benefit of isolating the substance receiving medium from contamination sources. Such means for supporting the substance receiving medium may include a housing defining a receiving chamber therein which holds the substance receiving medium and an opening to the receiving chamber. The apparatus also preferably includes means for temporarily positioning the substance receiving medium against the mucosal membrane.
The present invention also naturally utilizes the mucosa as filter membrane to exclude compounds in plasma that would interfere with any analysis or make any analysis more difficult. Analysis of substances in receiving medium may be significantly easier than in plasma. An artificial membrane may be used to further exclude other undesirable compounds.
391 Citations
58 Claims
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1. An apparatus for noninvasively collecting a desired substance from a subject comprising:
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a) a substance receiving medium the substance receiving medium being capable of receiving the desired substance such that a quantity of the substance, which directly correlates with a subject'"'"'s blood substance value, is capable of permeating the mucosal membrane into the substance receiving medium; b) means for supporting the substance receiving medium against mucosal tissue of a subject from which the desired substance is to be collected; and c) means for isolating the substance receiving medium from contaminating sources, such that a quantity of the substance to be collected permeates into the substance receiving medium in a concentration approximately proportional to the concentration of such substance in the subject'"'"'s blood. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 58)
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32. An apparatus for noninvasively collecting a substance from a subject comprising:
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a housing, the housing being adapted for placement against a subject'"'"'s mucosal tissue, the housing including a chamber which is in communication with the mucosal tissue when the housing is placed against the tissue while being isolated from contamination from sources other than the mucosal tissue; and a substance receiving medium contained within the chamber, the medium capable of accepting the desired substance. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 56, 57)
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52. An apparatus for noninvasively collecting a desired substance from a subject comprising:
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a housing, the housing being adapted for placement against a subject'"'"'s mucosal tissue, the housing including a chamber wherein the desired substance is collected from the mucosal tissue when the housing is placed against the tissue, the chamber being isolated from contamination from sources other than the mucosal tissue; and at least one rate regulating membrane placed between the mucosal membrane and the chamber to achieve a rate regulating function with regard to the quantity of the desired substance entering the chamber, the chamber receiving the desired substance such that a quantity of a substance, which directly correlates on a real time basis with a subject'"'"'s blood substance concentration, is capable of permeating the mucosal membrane and the rate regulating membrane into the chamber. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55)
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Specification