Drug injecting device

• US 8,010,188 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2007
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kagoshima University
• Original Assignee: Kagoshima University
• Inventors: Tateno, Hiroto
• Primary Examiner(s): Stigell; Theodore
• Assistant Examiner(s): CARPENTER, WILLIAM R
• Application Number:
  US12/514,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20100049118A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,386 Days
• Field of Search: 604/20, 604/21, 604/504, 128/200.16, 601/2, 600/347, 600/365
• US Class Current: 604/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• 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 37/0092 using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic vibrations, e.g. phonophoresis

Abstract

There is provided a drug injecting device including a drug feeding unit (110) feeding a drug (111a) to a surface of an object (200), an ultrasonic oscillating unit (120) oscillating an amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group in which amplitudes of respective ultrasonic waves are modulated, with respect to the surface of the object (200) fed with the drug (111a), and a control unit (130) controlling the amplitudes of the respective ultrasonic waves of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group oscillated from the ultrasonic oscillating unit (120) based on a drift velocity of the drug (111a) with respect to the object (200). Accordingly, when a drug is injected into a surface of an object such as a human body using ultrasonic waves, an effective injection according to the drug can be realized.

Claims

1. A drug injecting device, comprising:

a drug feeding unit feeding a drug to a surface of an object;

an ultrasonic oscillating unit oscillating an amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group in which amplitudes of respective ultrasonic waves are modulated, with respect to the surface of the object fed with the drug; and

a control unit controlling the amplitudes of the respective ultrasonic waves of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group based on a drift velocity of the drug extracted from a drift velocity storage unit with respect to the object.

2. The drug injecting device according to claim 1,

wherein said control unit controls the amplitudes of the respective ultrasonic waves so that a gradient of the amplitudes of the respective ultrasonic waves of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group with respect to an elapsed time from an oscillation starting time of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group becomes equal to or less than the drift velocity.

3. The drug injecting device according to claim 1,

wherein said control unit determines the number of the respective ultrasonic waves to be oscillated as the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group in accordance with a set injection amount of the drug.

4. The drug injecting device according to claim 3,

wherein said control unit performs control so that the amplitudes of the respective ultrasonic waves of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group are monotonically increased from a first ultrasonic wave at the time of starting the oscillation of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group to a last ultrasonic wave relating to the determined number of ultrasonic waves to be oscillated.

5. The drug injecting device according to claim 4,

wherein said control unit performs, after performing the control regarding the last ultrasonic wave of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group, control for making said ultrasonic oscillating unit oscillate a next amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group, and controls so that a shape of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group takes a saw-tooth shape.

6. The drug injecting device according to claim 1,

wherein the storage unit storing a value of the drift velocity for each type of the drug;

and

the device further comprises an information inputting unit inputting at least information relating to the type of the drug to be used,

wherein said control unit extracts a corresponding value of the drift velocity from said storage unit in accordance with the type of the drug input from said information inputting unit, and controls the amplitude of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group based on the extracted value of the drift velocity.

7. The drug injecting device according to claim 1,

wherein said control unit includes a detecting section detecting the respective ultrasonic waves of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group oscillated from said ultrasonic oscillating unit, and a setting section setting said ultrasonic oscillating unit to be in a resonance state by controlling a phase of the respective ultrasonic waves of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group based on the respective ultrasonic waves detected by the detecting section.

8. The drug injecting device according to claim 1, further comprising

a blood sugar level measuring unit measuring a blood sugar level inside the object,

wherein said control unit performs control for making said ultrasonic oscillating unit oscillate the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group when the blood sugar level measured by said blood sugar level measuring unit becomes equal to or more than a threshold value, and further performs control for making said ultrasonic oscillating unit stop the oscillation of the amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave group when the blood sugar level measured by said blood sugar level measuring unit becomes less than the threshold value.