COMMUNICATION SYSTEM WITH PARTIAL POWER SOURCE

• US 20100081894A1
• Filed: 09/21/2009
• Published: 04/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Otsuka Holdings Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Proteus Biomedical, Inc. (Otsuka Holdings Company Limited)
• Inventors: Hafezi, Hooman, Robertson, Timothy, Zdeblick, Mark, Pikelny, Aleksandr
• Granted Patent: US 7,978,064 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/302
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0462 Apparatus with built-in sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/08 Sensors provided with means for identification, e.g. barcodes or memory chips
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/162 Capsule shaped sensor housings, e.g. for swallowing or implantation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/07 Endoradiosondes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/073 Intestinal transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/076 Permanent implantations telemetry using implanted circuitry A61B5/0031; implanted stimulators for therapy A61N1/3605, A61N1/362, A61N1/372
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1473 invasive, e.g. introduced into the body by a catheter A61B5/1482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4833 Assessment of subject's compliance to treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4839 combined with drug delivery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6861 Capsules, e.g. for swallowing or implanting
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 3/007 Marking tablets or the like apparatus for printing on tablets or the like B41F17/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10168 the powering being adversely affected by environmental influences, e.g. unwanted energy loss in the interrogation signal due to metallic or capacitive objects in the proximity of the interrogation device or in the proximity of the interrogated record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/273 Adaptation for carrying or wearing by persons or animals
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49117 : Conductor or circuit manufacturing

Abstract

The system of the present invention includes a conductive element, an electronic component, and a partial power source in the form of dissimilar materials. Upon contact with a conducting fluid, a voltage potential is created and the power source is completed, which activates the system. The electronic component controls the conductance between the dissimilar materials to produce a unique current signature. The system can be used in a variety of different applications, including as components of ingestible identifiers, such as may be found in ingestible event markers, e.g., pharma-informatics enabled pharmaceutical compositions.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a control device for altering conductance; and

a partial power source comprising;

a first material electrically coupled to the control device; and

a second material electrically coupled to the control device and electrically isolated from the first material,

wherein the first and second materials are selected to provide a voltage potential difference when in contact with a conducting liquid, and

wherein the control device alters the conductance between the first and second materials such that the magnitude of the current flow is varied to encode information.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the control device comprises a switching module electrically coupled to the first and second materials and wherein the switching logic alters the conductance between the first and second materials.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising a frame, wherein the first and second materials are physically associated with a frame.

4. The system of claim 3 further comprising at least one current path extender associated with the frame.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein the first and second material are positioned on opposite sides of the frame and further comprising a non-conducting material positioned between the first and second materials.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein contact of conducting fluid with the partial power source produces a voltage potential between the first material and second material that activates the control device such that the control device alters the conductance to encode information in a current pattern.

7. An event marking apparatus for producing an identifiable current signature associated with ingestion of a pharmaceutical product, the apparatus comprising:

a pharmaceutical product in an ingestible form; and

a system secured to the product and activated upon contact with conductive fluid, the system comprising;

a frame;

a control device secured to the frame for controlling the conductance of the system;

a first material physically associated with the frame and electrically coupled to the control device;

a second material electrically coupled to the control device and physically associated with the frame at a location different from the location of the first material, such that the first and second materials are electrically isolated from each other; and

a non-conductive skirt secured to the frame and positioned relative to the first and second materials to facilitate extension of the electrical path between the first and second material.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control device comprises switching logic that is electrically coupled to the first material and the second material and wherein the switching logic controls the conductance between the first material and the second material.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the first material is an anode and the second material is a cathode.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the first material and the second material are deposited on different sides of the frame.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the first material and the second material are deposited on the same side of the frame such that the first material and second material are separated by the skirt.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the system produces a first current signature different from the produced identifiable current signature controlling the current path created between the first material and the second material.

13. A method of producing an identifiable device that is operational upon contact with a conducting fluid, the method comprising the steps of:

securing a control module on a support structure;

depositing a first material onto the structure to produce an anode on the structure and electrically coupling the anode to the control module;

depositing a second material onto the structure to produce a cathode on the structure at a location that is electrically isolated from the location of the anode and electrically coupling the cathode to the control module; and

using the control module to vary the conductance between the anode and the cathode when the device comes into contact with the conducting fluid and produce a unique current signature.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of boosting the current signature by positioning a non-conductive material between the anode and the cathode in order to increase the length of the current path.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of increasing the surface area of the anode and the cathode by providing a non-planar surface for the anode material and the cathode material.

16. A system for communicating through a conducting fluid, wherein the system uses variance in rate of transfer of mass between solid and the conducting fluid to encode information in an ionic production rate, the system comprising:

a support structure;

a first solid material physically associated with the support structure; and

a second solid material physically associated with the support structure, wherein the first material and the second material represent a voltage potential difference when in contact with the conducting fluid; and

a control module electrically coupled to the first and second material and physically associated with the support structure, wherein the control module varies conductance between the first material and the second material thereby controlling the rate of transfer of mass between the first material and the conducting fluid and wherein the control module communicates information through ionic production rate.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the control module varies the conductance between the first and second material to alter the rate of transfer of mass between the second material and the conducting fluid.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the transfer of mass between the first material and the conducting fluid is an oxidization process and the transfer of mass between the second material and the conducting fluid is a reduction process.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the transfer of mass between the first material and the conducting fluid includes ionic release and the transfer of mass between the second material and the conducting fluid includes ionic release.

20. The system of claim 16 further comprising a coating material surrounding the system to cause a delay in the enablement of the communication.