Acoustically controlled reaction device

• US 20070147170A1
• Filed: 03/09/2006
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gearbox LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Langer, Robert, Jung, Edward, Hood, Leroy, Tegreene, Clarence, Wood, Lowell, Ishikawa, Muriel, Wood, Victoria
• Granted Patent: US 8,936,590 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 366/127
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14513 with secondary fluid driving or regulating the infusion
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/0266 Shape memory materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/0288 Electro-rheological or magneto-rheological materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3507 with implanted devices, e.g. external control
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3523 using telemetric means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3569 sublocal, e.g. between console and disposable
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/36 related to heating or cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14276 specially adapted for implantation
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/145 using pressurised reservoirs, e.g. pressurised by means of pistons
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/172 electrical or electronic A61M5/16804, A61M5/16831 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1723 using feedback of body parameters, e.g. blood-sugar, pressure measurement of body parameters A61B5/00

Abstract

Embodiments of a system including a remotely controlled reaction device and associated controller are described. Methods of use and control of the device are also disclosed. According to various embodiments, a reaction device is placed in an environment in order to perform a chemical reaction in an environment. Exemplary environments include a body of an organism, a body of water, or an enclosed volume of a fluid. In selected embodiments, an acoustic control signal may be used.

Claims

1. A reaction system comprising:

a body structure adapted for positioning in an environment;

a reaction region located in or on the body structure, the reaction region including a first material capable of influencing a chemical reaction; and

a remotely activatable control element operably coupled to the body structure and responsive to an acoustic control signal to modify one or more of the rate or kinetics of the chemical reaction.

10. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the remotely activatable control element includes a polymer and an acoustically reactive component.

38. The reaction system of claim 1, including a remote controller capable of generating an acoustic control signal sufficient to activate the remotely activatable control element to modify one or more of the rate or kinetics of the chemical reaction.

39. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the remotely activatable control element responds to the control signal by changing in at least one dimension.

69. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the environment is selected from a body of an organism, a body of an animal, a body of a human, a body of a plant, a body of water, a contained fluid volume, an industrial fluid volume, an agricultural fluid volume, a swimming pool, an aquarium, a drinking water supply, and an HVAC system cooling water supply.

70. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the remotely activatable control element modifies one or more of the rate or reaction kinetics of the chemical reaction by modifying the influence of the first material on the chemical reaction or by modifying the rate of exposure of a reactant capable of participating in the chemical reaction to the first material.

71. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the reaction region is located in an interior portion of the body structure and is at least intermittently in fluid communication with the environment via at least one inlet or outlet, or wherein the reaction region is located on an exterior portion of the body structure in fluid communication with the environment.

72. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the remotely activatable control element responds to the control signal by at least one of producing heating, producing cooling, changing shape, changing configuration, changing volume, changing surface area, or changing orientation.

73. The reaction system of claim 1, including at least one of an outlet through which a product of the chemical reaction is released into the environment or an inlet through which a second material capable of participating in the chemical reaction enters the reaction region.

74. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the first material is selected from a reactant that is modified by participation in the chemical reaction, a non-reactant material that modifies at least one condition at which the reaction occurs, or a catalyst that facilitates the chemical reaction but is not significantly modified by the chemical reaction.

75. The reaction system of claim 74, wherein the first material is a non-reactant material that modifies at least one of the magnetic polarity, the electric polarity, the osmolality, the pH, or the charge of at least a portion of the reaction region;

or a non-reactant material that includes a hydrophobic group, a hydrophilic group, an acid, an acidifier, a base, an alkalizer, a buffering agent, an enzyme, an antioxidant, a charge donor or a charge acceptor.

76. The reaction system of claim 74, wherein the first material is a catalyst that facilitates the chemical reaction but is not significantly modified by the chemical reaction, the catalyst including a transition metal, an acid-base catalyst, a catalytic nucleic acid, or an enzyme including one or more of oxidoreductase, transferase, hydrolase, lyase, isomerase, ligase, enzymatic complexes and/or cofactor.

77. The reaction system of claim 1, wherein the reaction produces at least one of a material that has a beneficial effect on the organism or a local portion thereof, a nutrient, a hormone, a growth factor, a medication, a therapeutic compound, an enzyme, a genetic material, a vaccine, a vitamin, an imaging agent, a therapeutic compound, a cell signaling material or neurotransmitter;

wherein the reaction destroys, traps, or sequesters a material from the body of the organism that is harmful to the organism or a portion thereof;

or wherein the reaction includes at least one of degrading, chemically modifying, detoxifying, adsorbing, absorbing, enveloping, or killing the substance by a chemical reaction, enzymatic degradation, enzymatic modification, antioxidant scavenging of free radicals, or adsorption with magnetically or electrically polarized particles for separation or sequestering.

78. The reaction system of claim 39, wherein the remotely activatable control element includes at least one of a shape memory material or bimetallic structure.

79. The reaction system of claim 39, wherein additional portions of the reaction region are exposed, a surface area of the reaction region, or a volume containing the reaction region within the interior portion of the body structure is increased responsive to the change in at least one dimension of the remotely activatable control element.

80. The reaction system of claim 79, additional portions of the reaction region are exposed responsive to the change in at least one dimension of the remotely activatable control element, and wherein exposure of additional portions of the reaction region exposes additional functional groups to produce at least a local change in osmolality, pH, surface energy, or surface charge.

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48. A method of controlling a reaction device, comprising:

generating an electrical driving signal; and

driving an acoustic signal generator with the electrical driving signal in a remote controller positioned at a location remote from a reaction device in an environment to produce an acoustic control signal, the reaction device including a remotely activatable control element, and the acoustic control signal sufficient to produce activation of the remotely activatable control element to produce a desired rate of a chemical reaction in the reaction device.

56. The method of claim 82, wherein receiving a feedback signal from the reaction device includes receiving a signal representing a concentration of a reactant at the reaction region of the reaction device.

57. The method of claim 48, including:

receiving user input of one or more control parameters; and

based upon the one or more control parameters, generating an acoustic control signal having signal characteristics expected to produce a desired rate of reaction in the reaction device.

62. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of generating an electrical driving signal is performed according to instructions provided in the form of software, hardware or firmware.

81. The method of claim 48, including generating the electrical driving signal from a model-based calculation or generating the electrical driving signal based on a stored pattern.

82. The method of claim 48, including:

receiving a feedback signal from at least one of the environment or the reaction device; and

based upon the feedback signal, generating an acoustic control signal having signal characteristics expected to produce a desired feedback signal.

83. The method of claim 82, wherein receiving a feedback signal from the environment includes receiving a measure of osmolality, pH, temperature, pressure, concentration of a chemical, or activity of a chemical within at least a portion of the environment.

84. The method of claim 48, including activating the remotely activatable control element to produce heating, cooling, or a change in configuration of the remotely activatable control element sufficient to modify the chemical reaction occurring at the reaction region.

85. The method of claim 84, wherein the change in configuration of the remotely activatable control element includes one or more of expansion, change in shape, change in volume, change in surface area or change in orientation of the remotely activatable control element.

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63. Software for controlling a reaction device, comprising:

instructions for generating an acoustic control signal including frequency components absorbable by an acoustically responsive control element of the reaction device in an environment; and

instructions for remotely transmitting the acoustic control signal to the reaction device in the environment with signal characteristics sufficient to produce at least one of mechanical, thermal or chemical activation of the acoustically responsive control element in the reaction device to control a chemical reaction occurring at a reaction region of the reaction device.

66. The software of claim 63, including:

instructions for receiving a feedback signal from the environment; and

instructions for generating the acoustic control signal based at least in part upon the received feedback signal, the acoustic control signal having signal characteristics expected to produce a desired feedback signal.

67. The software of claim 63, including:

instructions for receiving a feedback signal from the reaction device; and

instructions for generating the acoustic control signal based at least in part upon the received feedback signal, the acoustic control signal having frequency composition and amplitude expected to produce a desired feedback signal.

68. The software of claim 63, including:

instructions for receiving user input of one or more control parameters; and

instructions for generating the acoustic control signal based at least in part upon the one or more control parameters.

86. The software of claim 63, wherein the instructions for generating an acoustic control signal include instructions for calculating the acoustic control signal based on a model or generating the acoustic control signal based on a pattern stored in a data storage location.

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