Oral implant system for releasing encapsulated food additives by exposure to energy

• US 9,462,822 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2012
• Issued: 10/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Baym, Michael H., Hyde, Roderick A., Kare, Jordin T., Leuthardt, Eric C., Sweeney, Elizabeth A., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lindsay, Bernard G
• Application Number:
  US13/675,940
• Publication Number:
  US 20140135951A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,428 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 33/00 Modifying nutritive qualities of foods; Dietetic products; Preparation or treatment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 33/40 Complete food formulations for specific consumer groups or specific purposes, e.g. infant formula

Abstract

Food additives may be actively released to deliver aromatic compounds to consumers during food or drink consumption. The food additives may be contained within an encapsulation layer. The encapsulation layer may be configured to release the food additives in response to being exposed to energy provided by an activation source proximate to the food additives. The activation source may be incorporated into, or connected with, an eating utensil or an oral implant. The activation source can be manually controlled by a consumer, can be controlled based on conditions near the food additives, or can be programmed with a release schedule that defines how and when food additives are to be released.

Claims

1. An oral implant system, comprising:

an implant body configured to secure the oral implant system in a consumer'"'"'s mouth;

a sensor embedded within the implant body, the sensor configured to detect a first fluorescent tag associated with a first encapsulated food additive that is within the consumer'"'"'s mouth and a second fluorescent tag associated with a second encapsulated food additive that is within the consumer'"'"'s mouth; and

an activation source physically coupled to the implant body, the activation source configured to emit energy at a first frequency in the consumer'"'"'s mouth to expose the first encapsulated food additive to the energy at the first frequency to release the first food additive from encapsulation based on the detection of the first fluorescent tag by the sensor that the first encapsulated food additive is within the consumer'"'"'s mouth, and the activation source further configured to emit energy at a second frequency in the consumer'"'"'s mouth to expose the second encapsulated food additive to the energy at the second frequency to release the second food additive from encapsulation based on the detection of the second fluorescent tag by the sensor that the second encapsulated food additive is within the consumer'"'"'s mouth, wherein the energy is selected from at least one of ultrasonic energy, electromagnetic energy, or radio frequency energy.

2. The oral implant system of claim 1, wherein the oral implant system is configured to be temporarily implantable in the consumer'"'"'s mouth.

3. The oral implant system of claim 1, wherein the activation source comprises an ultrasonic source.

4. The oral implant system of claim 1, wherein the activation source comprises an electromagnetic source.

5. The oral implant system of claim 1, wherein the activation source comprises a radio frequency source.

6. The oral implant system of claim 1, wherein the oral implant system further comprises a wireless communication system.

7. The oral implant system of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication system is a Bluetooth™

wireless communication system.

8. The oral implant system of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication system is a Wi-Fi wireless communication system.

9. The oral implant system of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication is an RF wireless communication system.

10. The oral implant system of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication system is configured to communicate with a computer system.

11. The oral implant system of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication system is configured to communicate with an external sensor.

12. The oral implant system of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication system is configured to communicate with a control device.

13. The oral implant system of claim 1, wherein the activation source is further configured to emit energy at the first frequency in the consumer'"'"'s mouth to expose the first encapsulated food additive to the energy at the first frequency to release the first food additive from encapsulation based on a release schedule.

14. The oral implant system of claim 13, wherein the release schedule comprises a first release schedule for the first encapsulated food additive and a second release schedule for the second encapsulated food additive.

15. The oral implant system of claim 13, wherein the release schedule is programmed by the consumer.

16. The oral implant system of claim 13, wherein the release schedule is selected by the consumer.

17. The oral implant system of claim 13, wherein the release schedule is downloaded by the consumer via a communication system.

18. The oral implant system of claim 13, wherein the release schedule comprises an order for releasing the first encapsulated food additive and the second encapsulated food additive.

19. The oral implant system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a photosource and a detector.

20. An oral implant system including a non-transitory, machine readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

accessing a release schedule comprising data identifying a first encapsulated food additive and a second encapsulated food additive, and a time at which to release the first food additive and the second food additive from encapsulation; and

initiating an activation source physically coupled with an oral implant system to emit energy at a first frequency in a consumer'"'"'s mouth to expose the first encapsulated food additive to the energy at the first frequency according to the release schedule to release the first food additive from encapsulation based on a detection of a first fluorescent tag associated with the first encapsulated food additive by a sensor comprising a photosource and a detector that the first encapsulated food additive is within a consumer'"'"'s mouth, and further initiating the activation source to emit energy at a second frequency in the consumer'"'"'s mouth to expose the second encapsulated food additive to the energy at the second frequency according to the release schedule to release the second food additive from encapsulation based on a detection of a second fluorescent tag associated with the second encapsulated food additive by the sensor,

wherein the sensor is coupled with the oral implant system, wherein the oral implant system is secured within the consumer'"'"'s mouth, and wherein the energy is selected from at least one of ultrasonic energy, electromagnetic energy, or radio frequency energy.

21. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the release schedule is programmed by the consumer.

22. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the release schedule is downloaded by the consumer via a communication system.

23. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the release schedule comprises a duration of time for releasing the first encapsulated food additive.

24. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the release schedule comprises a time interval between releasing the first encapsulated food additive and the second encapsulated food additive.

25. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the release schedule comprises an order for releasing the first encapsulated food additive and the second encapsulated food additive.

26. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the release schedule comprises an amount of the first encapsulated food additive and the second encapsulated food additive to release.

27. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the release schedule comprises a point of time for releasing the first encapsulated food additive.

28. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the machine readable storage medium is separate from the oral implant system and the instructions are communicated to the oral implant system via a communication system.

29. The machine readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the machine readable storage medium is removeably coupled with the oral implant system.

30. An oral implant system, comprising:

an implant body configured to secure the oral implant system in a consumer'"'"'s mouth; and

an activation source physically coupled to the implant body, the activation source configured to emit ultrasonic energy at a first frequency in the consumer'"'"'s mouth to expose a first encapsulated food additive to the ultrasonic energy at the first frequency, the ultrasonic energy at the first frequency configured to release the first food additive from encapsulation based on a detection by a sensor physically coupled to the implant body that a first fluorescent tag associated with the first encapsulated food additive is within the consumer'"'"'s mouth,

the activation source further configured to emit ultrasonic energy at a second frequency in the consumer'"'"'s mouth to expose a second encapsulated food additive to the ultrasonic energy at the second frequency, the ultrasonic energy at the second frequency configured to release the second food additive from encapsulation based on a detection by the sensor that a second fluorescent tag associated with the second encapsulated food additive is within the consumer'"'"'s mouth, wherein the first and second encapsulated food additives are surrounded by an acoustically reactive encapsulation layer.