System and method for delivering fluid into flexible biological barrier
First Claim
1. A method for delivering a fluid into a flexible biological barrier, the method comprising:
- (a) moving at least one contact surface in contact with the flexible biological barrier in a motion having a component parallel to the surface of the flexible biological barrier so as to generate a boundary region between a stretched portion of the flexible biological barrier and a non-stretched portion of the flexible biological barrier;
(b) causing at least one hollow microneedle to penetrate into the flexible biological barrier such that, at the end of said moving, said at least one hollow microneedle extends into the flexible biological barrier from said boundary region in a direction towards said non-stretched portion; and
(c) delivering a fluid through said at least one hollow microneedle towards said non-stretched portion.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for delivering fluid into a flexible biological barrier employs a microneedle structure wherein a final position of microneedles (12) inserted into the biological barrier (14) is generally sideways projecting from the delivery configuration instead of the conventional downwards projecting arrangement. The microneedles (12) project from a relief surface (16) which is distinct from a primary biological-barrier contact region (18, 26) of the delivery configuration, and is typically angled upwards away from the biological barrier. During insertion, the contact region (18, 26) is brought into contact with the biological barrier (14) and moved parallel to the surface of the flexible biological barrier so as to generate a boundary (20) between a stretched portion (22) and a non-stretched portion (24) of the barrier. Typically concurrently with this motion, the microneedles (12) penetrate into the flexible biological barrier such that, at the end of the motion, the microneedles extend into the flexible biological barrier from the boundary region (20) in a direction towards the non-stretched portion (24). Fluid is then injected through the bores of the hollow microneedles towards non-stretched portion.
53 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A method for delivering a fluid into a flexible biological barrier, the method comprising:
-
(a) moving at least one contact surface in contact with the flexible biological barrier in a motion having a component parallel to the surface of the flexible biological barrier so as to generate a boundary region between a stretched portion of the flexible biological barrier and a non-stretched portion of the flexible biological barrier; (b) causing at least one hollow microneedle to penetrate into the flexible biological barrier such that, at the end of said moving, said at least one hollow microneedle extends into the flexible biological barrier from said boundary region in a direction towards said non-stretched portion; and (c) delivering a fluid through said at least one hollow microneedle towards said non-stretched portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method for delivering a fluid into a flexible biological barrier, the method comprising:
-
(a) providing a delivery device including a contact region and a relief region, said relief region having at least one hollow microneedle deployed thereon, said relief region being in fixed spatial relation to said contact region; (b) bringing the device against the biological barrier so that said contact region touches the biological barrier and said relief region does not contact the biological barrier; and (c) moving the device with a component of the motion parallel to the surface of the biological barrier so as to mechanically deform the biological barrier to bring the biological barrier into contact with at least part of the relief region such that the at least one microneedle penetrates into the biological barrier. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A method for delivering a fluid into a flexible biological barrier, the method comprising:
-
(a) providing a delivery device including at least one hollow microneedle projecting no more than one millimeter from a surface of the device, said at least one hollow microneedle having a fluid delivery bore defining a flow vector; and (b) mechanically deforming the flexible biological barrier and causing said at least one hollow microneedle to penetrate said flexible biological barrier in such a manner that said flow vector forms an angle of between 45 degrees and minus 15 degrees with an initial plane of the flexible barrier.
-
Specification