Method, device and system for modulating an activity of brown adipose tissue in a vertebrate subject

• US 8,968,377 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2011
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gearbox LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Boyden, Edward S., Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Jung, Edward K. Y., Leuthardt, Eric C., Malaska, Stephen L., Sweeney, Elizabeth A., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dvorak, Linda
• Assistant Examiner(s): AVIGAN, ADAM JOSEPH
• Application Number:
  US13/068,421
• Publication Number:
  US 20120290023A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,394 Days
• Field of Search: 607108-112, 607/105, 607/113
• US Class Current: 607/96
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0002 Head or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0011 Neck only
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0056 for cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0075 using a Peltier element, e.g. near the spot to be heated or cooled
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/009 with a varying magnetic field acting upon the human body, e.g. an implant therein
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0093 programmed
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0226 adhesive, self-sticking
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0233 connected to or incorporated in clothing or garments A61F2007/023 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/029 Fat cell removal or destruction by non-ablative heat treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/101 for cooling organs in the body before or during surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/126 for invasive application, e.g. for introducing into blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/007 characterised by electric heating
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/02 Compresses or poultices for effecting heating or cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/106 self-cooling, e.g. using a chemical reaction
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/12 Devices for heating or cooling internal body cavities
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0534 Electrodes for deep brain stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3605 Implantable neurostimulators for stimulating central or peripheral nerve system
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36053 adapted for vagal stimulation A61N1/36114 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2/002 in combination with another treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2/004 specially adapted for a specific therapy
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0008 : Destruction of fat cells
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/025 : Warming the body, e.g. hyperthermia treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/04 : Radiators for near-field treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/00 : Ultrasound therapy lithotripsy A61B17/22, A61B17/225; massage using supersonic vibration A61H23/00 ; using ultrasound for introducing media into the body A61M37/0092

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed herein for treatment of a disease, disorder, or condition in a vertebrate subject. A device is provided that includes one or more cooling elements configured to be applied to one or more tissues of a vertebrate subject to modulate at least one activity of brown adipose tissue of the vertebrate subject, and a programmable controller configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to information regarding one or more physiological conditions of the vertebrate subject.

Claims

1. A method for modulating an activity of brown adipose tissue of a vertebrate subject comprising:

inducing non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue by applying cooling to one or more brown adipose tissues of the vertebrate subject with one or more cooling elements configured to lower the temperature of the one or more brown adipose tissues and thereby induce non-shivering thermogenesis of the brown adipose tissue of the vertebrate subject, and

controlling the one or more cooling elements with a programmable controller configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to information regarding one or more physiological conditions of the vertebrate subject, the one or more physiological conditions of the vertebrate subject including a plasma level of one or more metabolic analytes.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sensing with one or more sensors the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions and communicating the information from the one or more sensors to the programmable controller.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising sensing with one or more sensors the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions and communicating the information from the one or more sensors to a digital processing unit, processing the information with the digital processing unit into at least one resulting instruction, and providing by the digital processing unit the at least one resulting instruction to the programmable controller.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein processing the information includes comparing the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions to information of a standard value or preprogrammed value.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions includes a plasma level of one or more metabolic analytes in the vertebrate subject.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions includes a sugar levels or fatty acid level in the vertebrate subject.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing information from at least one of a sensor, a timekeeping device, a user interface, and an outside operating source to a digital processing unit, processing the information with the digital processing unit into at least one resulting instruction, and providing by the digital processing unit the at least one resulting instruction to the programmable controller.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the outside operating source includes a computing device, a user input device, the timekeeping device, a sensing device, or a human operator.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the timekeeping device is internal to the programmable controller.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the one or more cooling elements with the programmable controller includes programming the programmable controller.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the programming the programmable controller occurs by a user or by a digital processing unit.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the one or more cooling elements with the programmable controller includes programming the programmable controller to induce weight loss.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the one or more cooling elements with the programmable controller includes programming the programmable controller to treat a disorder.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising inputting information into the device by a user.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the user input information includes information relating to one or more of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or food ingested by the vertebrate subject.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the user input information includes time input, time of day, period of time, start time, stop time, or length of time.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions includes information relating to one or more of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or food ingested by the vertebrate subject.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to cool by electrical cooling activity.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to cool by Peltier cooling activity.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to cool by chemical cooling activity.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising cooling the tissue with the one or more cooling elements to a tissue temperature from approximately 4°

C. to approximately 36°

C.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising cooling the tissue with the one or more cooling elements to a tissue temperature from approximately 12°

C. to approximately 20°

C.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising cooling the tissue with the one or more cooling elements to attain a tissue temperature from approximately 24°

C. to approximately 32°

C.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising cooling the tissue with the one or more cooling elements to a tissue temperature approximately 16°

C. or lower.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements are incorporated in into clothing, bedding, furniture, or upholstery.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising powering the device with a power source.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing one or more medicaments for treatment of weight loss, metabolic disorder, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, or dyslipidemia.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a neurostimulator to the one or more tissues.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a neurostimulator to one or more second tissues of the vertebrate subject.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more second tissues include nerve tissue.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein applying the neurostimulator includes applying at least one of electric neurostimulator, magnetic neurostimulator, ultrasonic neurostimulator, or microwave neurostimulator.

32. A method for inducing weight loss in a vertebrate subject comprising:

inducing non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue by applying cooling to one or more brown adipose tissues of the vertebrate subject with one or more cooling elements configured to lower the temperature of the one or more tissues and thereby inducing non-shivering thermogenesis of brown adipose tissue of the vertebrate subject, and

controlling the one or more cooling elements with a programmable controller configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to information regarding one or more physiological conditions of the vertebrate subject, the one or more physiological conditions of the vertebrate subject including a glucose level.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising sensing with one or more sensors information regarding the one or more physiological conditions and communicating the information from the one or more sensors to the programmable controller.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising sensing with one or more sensors the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions and communicating the information from the one or more sensors to a digital processing unit, processing the information with the digital processing unit into at least one resulting instruction, and providing by the digital processing unit the at least one resulting instruction to the programmable controller.

35. The method of claim 32, further comprising providing information from at least one of a sensor, a timekeeping device, a user interface, and an outside operating source to a digital processing unit, processing the information with the digital processing unit into at least one resulting instruction, and providing by the digital processing unit the at least one resulting instruction to the programmable controller.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the outside operating source includes a computing device, a user input device, the timekeeping device, a sensing device, or a human operator.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein processing the information includes comparing the information regarding the one or more physiological conditions to information of a standard value or preprogrammed value.

38. The method of claim 32, comprising inputting information into the device by a user.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the user input information includes information relating to one or more of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or food ingested by the vertebrate subject.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the user input information includes time input, time of day, period of time, start time, stop time, or length of time.

41. The method of claim 32, wherein modulating the at least one activity of the brown adipose tissue includes increasing metabolic activity, or increasing proliferation of brown adipose tissue in the vertebrate subject.

42. A method for modulating an activity of brown adipose tissue of a vertebrate subject comprising:

detecting a refractive index of an analyte on a surface of at least one sensor; and

inducing non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue via one or more cooling elements configured to lower the temperature of the one or more brown adipose tissues and thereby induce non-shivering thermogenesis of the brown adipose tissue of the vertebrate subject, wherein the inducing non-shivering thermogenesis via the one or more cooling elements is responsive to a change in the refractive index indicative of a target analyte level in the vertebrate subject.