Ultrasonic enhancement of drug injection
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance delivered into a target region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising:
- (a) injecting the substance into solid tissue in the target region; and
(b) directing vibrational energy to the target region, said vibrational energy having a Mechanical Index in the range of 0.3 to 15 and having a Thermal Index of less than 4.0, said vibrational energy being of a type and in an amount sufficient to enhance absorption into cells of the target region.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance delivered into a target region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising: (a) delivering the substance to the target region; and (b) directing vibrational energy to the target region, wherein the vibrational energy is of a type and in an amount sufficient to enhance absorption into cells of the target region.
-
Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance delivered into a target region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising:
-
(a) injecting the substance into solid tissue in the target region; and
(b) directing vibrational energy to the target region, said vibrational energy having a Mechanical Index in the range of 0.3 to 15 and having a Thermal Index of less than 4.0, said vibrational energy being of a type and in an amount sufficient to enhance absorption into cells of the target region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
said target region is in the myocardium. -
3. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 2, wherein said injecting step comprises injection through the epicardium.
-
4. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 2, wherein said injecting step comprises injection through the endocardium.
-
5. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 2, wherein,
said substance promotes angiogenesis. -
6. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 5, wherein,
said substance is selected from the group consisting of VEGF and BFGF. -
7. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 5, wherein,
said substance inhibits restenosis. -
8. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 5, wherein,
said substance is eNOS. -
9. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 2, wherein,
said substance prevents congestive heart failure. -
10. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 2, wherein,
said substance is selected from the group consisting of brain naturatic peptides and beta-andrenogenic receptors. -
11. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 2, wherein,
said substance is a DNA-based vaccine. -
12. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 1, wherein,
the step of injecting the substance is performed at least partly after the step of directing vibrational energy to the target region. -
13. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 1, wherein,
said vibrational energy has a frequency range of 20 kHz to 3.0 MHz. -
14. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 1, wherein,
absorption is increased by at least about 5% relative to uptake in the absence of the vibrational energy. -
15. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 14, wherein,
absorption is increased by at least about 5000% relative to uptake in the absence of the vibrational energy. -
16. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 1, wherein the step of directing vibrational energy to the target region comprises:
engaging a vibrational surface against tissue of the target region.
-
17. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 16, wherein the vibrational surface is generally planar and engaged against an external surface of a patient'"'"'s skin, organ, or tissue.
-
18. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 16, wherein the vibrational surface is a probe that penetrates into tissue in the target region.
-
19. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 18, wherein the probe is a needle used for injecting the substance into the target region.
-
20. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 17, wherein the needle vibrates to form microbubbles, thereby enhancing cavitation at the target region.
-
21. The method of enhancing cellular absorption of a substance as in claim 1, wherein the step of directing vibrational energy to the target region comprises:
-
generating a ultrasound beam external to the patient; and
directing the ultrasound beam to the target region.
-
-
Specification