Recirculating implantable drug delivery system
First Claim
1. A system for delivering drug therapy to a living body, comprising:
- a) a drug reservoir for containing a supply of drug;
b) a recirculating closed loop carrier path including a carrier fluid contained therein, the recirculating carrier path connected to the drug reservoir;
c) a metering device for introducing drug from the drug reservoir into the carrier fluid to substantially maintain a predetermined concentration of drug in the carrier fluid, the metering device operatively connected to the drug reservoir; and
d) a delivery interface located on the recirculating carrier path for permitting controlled passage of the drug from the carrier fluid to the human body.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A drug delivery system recirculate carrier fluid in closed-loop fashion, thereby requiring only a relatively small amount of carrier fluid for operation. A pump provides continuous flow of carrier fluid to a delivery interface in a recirculating path. A metering device, which may be either passive or active, dispenses drug from a reservoir into the carrier fluid in the recirculating path and maintains a constant concentration of drug at the delivery interface, which may comprise a semipermeable membrane. The recirculating path is preferably in the form of a dual-lumen catheter which provides a supply leg to a delivery interface and a return leg from the drug delivery interface to the pump. Drug concentration sensors may be provided to measure the concentration of drug in the recirculating path or in the human body and to actively adjust the metering device accordingly.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system for delivering drug therapy to a living body, comprising:
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a) a drug reservoir for containing a supply of drug;
b) a recirculating closed loop carrier path including a carrier fluid contained therein, the recirculating carrier path connected to the drug reservoir;
c) a metering device for introducing drug from the drug reservoir into the carrier fluid to substantially maintain a predetermined concentration of drug in the carrier fluid, the metering device operatively connected to the drug reservoir; and
d) a delivery interface located on the recirculating carrier path for permitting controlled passage of the drug from the carrier fluid to the human body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of delivering a beneficial agent to a living body, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a recirculating closed-loop path of carrier fluid;
b) providing a drug delivery interface in communication with the carrier fluid; and
c) metering drug into the carrier fluid in the recirculating closed-loop path. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for delivering drug therapy to a living body, comprising:
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a) a drug reservoir for containing a supply of drug;
b) a recirculating closed-loop carrier path including a dual-lumen catheter having a supply leg and a return leg and carrier fluid contained therein, the recirculating carrier path connected to the drug reservoir;
c) a metering device operatively connected to the drug reservoir for introducing drug from the drug reservoir into the carrier fluid to substantially maintain a predetermined concentration of drug in the carrier fluid, the metering device including at least one sensor for sensing the concentration of drug in the carrier fluid;
d) a delivery interface located on the recirculating carrier path for permitting controlled passage of the drug from the carrier fluid to the human body, including a semi-permeable membrane adapted to permit migration of drug into the living body while preventing a net migration of the carrier fluid out of the recirculating path; and
e) a pump in fluid communication with the dual-lumen catheter to pump the carrier fluid from the return leg to the supply leg.
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16. A method of delivering a beneficial agent to a living body, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a recirculating closed-loop path of carrier fluid;
b) providing a drug delivery interface in communication with the carrier fluid; and
c) actively metering drug into the carrier fluid in the recirculating closed-loop path by sensing the concentration of drug in the recirculating path to substantially maintain a predetermined concentration of drug in the carrier fluid at the delivery interface.
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17. A method of delivering a beneficial agent to a living body, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a recirculating closed-loop path of carrier fluid;
b) providing a drug delivery interface in communication with the carrier fluid; and
c) passively metering drug into the carrier fluid in the recirculating closed-loop path to substantially maintain a predetermined concentration of drug in the carrier fluid at the delivery interface.
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Specification