Medical apparatus for determination of biological conditions using impedance measurements
First Claim
1. A medical apparatus for the diagnosing of a diseased condition of the skin of a subject, comprising:
- an electrically conducting probe including a plurality of electrodes, each electrode comprising a base substrate and a plurality of micro-needles, wherein said probe is adapted to be placed against a surface of the subject such that said micro-needles penetrate the stratum corneum, wherein said medical apparatus is adapted to initiate an impedance measurement session including passing an electrical current through the electrodes to obtain values of skin impedance, and use reference data to determine whether the obtained impedance values indicate the diseased condition,said micro-needles being integrally formed with said substrate and arranged in a laterally spaced relationship apart from each other and having a length being sufficient to penetrate the stratum corneum, said micro-needles having a triangular cross-section parallel to the base substrate along an entire length thereof, and said micro-needles being arranged with at least one oblique surface extending from a tip thereof to the base substrate such that the cross-section parallel to the base substrate tapers continuously along the entire length thereof from the base substrate to the tip, andthe triangular cross-section at the bottom of said micro-needles having two equal sides with a length of s1 and a third side with a length of b1, wherein s1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m, and b1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Medical apparatus for diagnosing of a diseased condition of the skin of a subject. The apparatus comprises an electrically conducting probe including a plurality of electrodes, each electrode comprising a plurality of micro-needles, wherein each electrode comprises a base substrate, said micro-needles being integrally formed with said substrate and arranged in a laterally spaced relationship apart from each other and having a length being sufficient to penetrate the stratum corneum, said micro-needles being arranged with an at least partially oblique shape. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an electrode for use in the device, arrays of micro-needle and method for the diagnostics of biological conditions using impedance measurements. The diagnostics is in particular related to cancer, and preferably skin cancer, wherein skin cancer is a basal cell carcinoma, a malignant melanoma, a squamous cell carcinoma, or precursors of such lesions.
25 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A medical apparatus for the diagnosing of a diseased condition of the skin of a subject, comprising:
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an electrically conducting probe including a plurality of electrodes, each electrode comprising a base substrate and a plurality of micro-needles, wherein said probe is adapted to be placed against a surface of the subject such that said micro-needles penetrate the stratum corneum, wherein said medical apparatus is adapted to initiate an impedance measurement session including passing an electrical current through the electrodes to obtain values of skin impedance, and use reference data to determine whether the obtained impedance values indicate the diseased condition, said micro-needles being integrally formed with said substrate and arranged in a laterally spaced relationship apart from each other and having a length being sufficient to penetrate the stratum corneum, said micro-needles having a triangular cross-section parallel to the base substrate along an entire length thereof, and said micro-needles being arranged with at least one oblique surface extending from a tip thereof to the base substrate such that the cross-section parallel to the base substrate tapers continuously along the entire length thereof from the base substrate to the tip, and the triangular cross-section at the bottom of said micro-needles having two equal sides with a length of s1 and a third side with a length of b1, wherein s1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m, and b1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An electrode adapted to be placed against a skin surface of a subject for the diagnosing of a diseased condition of the skin of the subject, comprising:
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a base substrate and a plurality of micro-needles, said micro-needles being integrally formed with said base substrate and arranged in a laterally spaced relationship apart from each other and having a length being sufficient to penetrate the stratum corneum when placed against the skin surface of the subject, said micro-needles having a triangular cross-section parallel to the base substrate along an entire length thereof, and said micro-needles being arranged with at least one oblique surface extending from a tip thereof to the base substrate such that the cross-section parallel to the base substrate tapers continuously along the entire length thereof from the base substrate to the tip, and the triangular cross-section at the bottom of said micro-needles having two equal sides with a length of s1 and a third side with a length of b1, wherein s1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m, and b1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An array of micro-structures, comprising:
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a base substrate; and an array of simultaneously formed micro-needles projecting from a surface of said base substrate, wherein said micro-needles are arranged in a laterally spaced relationship apart from each other and having a length being sufficient to penetrate the stratum corneum when placed against a skin surface of a subject, said micro-needles having a triangular cross-section parallel to the base substrate along an entire length thereof, and said micro-needles being arranged with at least one oblique surface extending from a tip thereof to the base substrate such that the cross-section parallel to the base substrate tapers continuously along the entire length thereof from the base substrate to the tip, and wherein the triangular cross-section at the bottom of said micro-needles has two equal sides with a length of s1 and a third side with a length of b1, wherein s1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m, and b1 is between 20 μ
m and 200 μ
m. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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Specification