Microneedle transport device

• US 7,651,475 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2008
• Issued: 01/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Hunter, Ian W., Angel, Aimee B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lucchesi; Nicholas D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Landry, II; Gerald
• Application Number:
  US11/972,726
• Publication Number:
  US 20080319392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: 604/151, 604/20, 604 65- 67, 604/132, 604/133, 604140-147
• US Class Current: 604/65
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/1405 Patient controlled analgesia [PCA]
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14204 with gas-producing electrochemical cell
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14252 with needle insertion means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14268 with a reusable and a disposable component
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/1581 Right-angle needle-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2037/0007 having means for enhancing the permeation of substances through the epidermis, e.g. using suction or depression, electric or magnetic fields, sound waves or chemical agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2037/0023 Drug applicators using microneedles
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2037/003 having a lumen
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2037/0038 having a channel at the side surface
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/0266 Shape memory materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/50 with microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/8206 battery-operated
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2230/65 Impedance, e.g. conductivity, capacity
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 37/0015 by using microneedles
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14244 adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14248 of the skin patch type
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/155 pressurised by gas introduced into the reservoir
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1723 using feedback of body parameters, e.g. blood-sugar, pressure measurement of body parameters A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/425 Protruding skin to facilitate piercing, e.g. vacuum cylinders, vein immobilising means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/46 having means for controlling depth of insertion

Abstract

A transdermal transport device includes a reservoir for holding a formulation of an active principle, and an array of needles which have bores in fluid communication with the reservoir to facilitate transporting the formulation to and from the reservoir through the needles. The device also includes a first actuator which drives the array of needles into the body, and a second actuator which pumps the formulation between the reservoir and the body through the needles. The first actuator is reversible to withdraw the needles from the body.

Claims

1. A transdermal transport device, comprising:

a reservoir including at least two reservoir chambers, a first reservoir chamber including a sensor for detecting concentration of a substance and a second reservoir chamber for holding a formulation of an active principle;

an array of needles, each needle having a bore in fluid communication with the reservoir;

a first actuator that drives the array of needles into a body, the first actuator being reversible to withdraw the needles from the body; and

a second actuator that withdraws a fluid from the body through the needles into the first reservoir chamber;

the second actuator being reversible to deliver the formulation of the active principle from the second reservoir chamber to the body in response to detected concentration of the substance in the withdrawn fluid.

2. The transdermal transport device of claim 1 wherein the sensor is at least partially positioned in the first reservoir chamber.

3. The transdermal transport device of claim 1 wherein the sensor is arranged to detect glucose concentration in the withdrawn fluid.

4. The transdermal transport device of claim 3 wherein the formulation of the active principle is insulin, the amount of insulin pumped into the body depending on the glucose concentration.

5. The transdermal transport device of claim 1 further including one or more controllers to control the second actuator to pump a specified amount of the formulation of the active principle.

6. The transdermal transport device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of needles are positionable in a retracted state when the first actuator is de-energized.

7. The transport device of claim 1 further comprising one or more controllers, wherein at least one of the first and the second actuators is under the direction of the one or more controllers.

8. The transport device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and the second actuators includes a vapor generator.

9. The transport device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and the second actuators operates by a chemical reaction process or electrochemical process.

10. The transport device of claim 1 further comprising an oscillator which causes the plurality of needles to vibrate to reduce the force required to advance the needles through the surface of the body.

11. The transport of claim 10 wherein the oscillator is a piezoelectric crystal.

12. The transport device of claim 1 wherein the first actuator is contained in a control unit, and the second actuator an plurality needles are contained in a cartridge, the control unit and the cartridge being separate connectable units with respect to one another.

13. A method for transporting a formulation of an active principle through a surface of a body, the method comprising:

advancing an array of needles into the body, each needle having a bore in fluid communication with a reservoir, the reservoir including at least two reservoir chambers, a first reservoir chamber including a sensor for detecting concentration of a substance and a second reservoir chamber for holding a formulation of an active principle;

withdrawing a fluid from the body into the first reservoir chamber;

detecting the concentration of the substance in the withdrawn fluid using the sensor in the first reservoir chamber; and

in response to detected concentration of the substance in the withdrawn fluid, pumping the formulation of the active principle from the second reservoir chamber into the body using the second actuator.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the sensor is at least partially positioned in the first reservoir chamber.

15. The method of claim 13 further including detecting glucose concentration in the withdrawn fluid.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the formulation of the active principle is insulin, the amount of insulin pumped into the body depending on the glucose concentration.

17. The method of claim 13 further including controlling the second actuator to pump a specified amount of formulation of the active principle.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the plurality of needles are positionable in a retracted state when the first actuator is de-energized.

19. The method of claim 13 further including controlling at least one of the first and the second actuators under the direction of one or more controllers.

20. The method of claim 13 wherein at least one of the first and the second actuators includes a vapor generator.

21. The method of claim 13 further including operating at least one of the first and the second actuators by a chemical reaction process or electrochemical process.

22. The method of claim 13 further including vibrating the plurality of needles to reduce the force required to advance the needles through the surface of the body.

23. The method of claim 22 further including vibrating the plurality of needles using a piezoelectric crystal.