Method, device and system for modulating an activity of brown adipose tissue in a vertebrate subject

• US 9,656,056 B2
• Filed: 09/01/2011
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gearbox LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Gearbox LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Boyden, Edward S., Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Jung, Edward K. Y., Leuthardt, Eric C., Malaska, Stephen L., Sweeney, Elizabeth A., Wood, Jr., Lowell L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Stoklosa, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Avigan, Adam
• Application Number:
  US13/199,577
• Publication Number:
  US 20120289758A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,091 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0002 Head or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0011 Neck only
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0056 for cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0075 using a Peltier element, e.g. near the spot to be heated or cooled
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/009 with a varying magnetic field acting upon the human body, e.g. an implant therein
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0093 programmed
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0226 adhesive, self-sticking
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0233 connected to or incorporated in clothing or garments A61F2007/023 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/029 Fat cell removal or destruction by non-ablative heat treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/101 for cooling organs in the body before or during surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/126 for invasive application, e.g. for introducing into blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/007 characterised by electric heating
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/02 Compresses or poultices for effecting heating or cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/106 self-cooling, e.g. using a chemical reaction
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/12 Devices for heating or cooling internal body cavities
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0534 Electrodes for deep brain stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3605 Implantable neurostimulators for stimulating central or peripheral nerve system
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36053 adapted for vagal stimulation A61N1/36114 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2/002 in combination with another treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2/004 specially adapted for a specific therapy
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0008 : Destruction of fat cells
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/025 : Warming the body, e.g. hyperthermia treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/04 : Radiators for near-field treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/00 : Ultrasound therapy lithotripsy A61B17/22, A61B17/225; massage using supersonic vibration A61H23/00 ; using ultrasound for introducing media into the body A61M37/0092

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed herein for treatment of a disease, disorder, or condition in a vertebrate subject. A device is provided that includes one or more cooling elements configured to be applied to one or more tissues of a vertebrate subject to modulate at least one activity of brown adipose tissue of the vertebrate subject, and a programmable controller configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to information regarding one or more physiological conditions of the vertebrate subject.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a substrate sized for placement on an external surface of a vertebrate subject, the substrate including an adhesive material;

one or more cooling elements attached to the substrate and configured to be applied to the external surface of the vertebrate subject to modulate at least one activity of brown adipose tissue of the vertebrate subject;

one or more sensors configured to sense a plasma level of one or more of a metabolic analyte, a sugar, a lipoprotein, or a fatty acid in the vertebrate subject;

a programmable controller operably coupled to the one or more cooling elements and to the one or more sensors, the programmable controller configured to receive information regarding the plasma level of the one or more of the metabolic analyte, the sugar, the lipoprotein, or the fatty acid in the vertebrate subject from the one or more sensors and configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to the information regarding the plasma level of the one or more of the metabolic analyte, the sugar, the lipoprotein, or the fatty acid in the vertebrate subject; and

programming designed to induce weight loss.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a digital processing unit operably connected to the programmable controller, the digital processing unit configured to receive information from at least one of a sensor, a timekeeping device, a user interface, and an outside operating source, configured to process the information into at least one resulting instruction, and configured to provide the at least one resulting instruction to the programmable controller.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising an outside operating source operably connected to the programmable controller, wherein the programmable controller in communication with the outside operating source is configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to information from the outside operating source regarding at least one of a number of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or a type and quantity of food ingested by the vertebrate subject.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the programmable controller is configured to accept or send information from or to one or more of a timekeeping device or a user interface.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the timekeeping device is internal to the programmable controller.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the programmable controller is configured to accept user input.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the user input includes time input, time of day, period of time, start time, stop time, or length of time.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of circuitry and data storage.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising programming designed to treat a disorder.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements attached to the substrate are configured to be applied to the external surface of the vertebrate subject to increase metabolic activity of brown adipose tissue or increase proliferation of brown adipose tissue in the vertebrate subject.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements attached to the substrate are configured to be applied to the external surface of the vertebrate subject to induce non-shivering thermogenesis in the brown adipose tissue.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is sized for placement on the external surface of the vertebrate subject in proximity to thermoresponsive tissue of the vertebrate subject.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is sized for placement on the external surface of the vertebrate subject in proximity to nervous tissue of the vertebrate subject.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is sized for placement on the external surface of cutaneous tissue of the vertebrate subject.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is sized for placement on the external surface of the vertebrate subject in proximity to brown adipose tissue.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is sized for placement on the external surface of the vertebrate subject in proximity to one or more blood vessels or lymph vessels.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements include one or more electrical cooling elements.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more cooling elements include one or more Peltier cooling elements.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements include one or more chemical cooling elements.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to attain a tissue temperature from approximately 4°

C. to approximately 36°

C.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to attain a tissue temperature from approximately 12°

C. to approximately 20°

C.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to attain a tissue temperature from approximately 24°

C. to approximately 32°

C.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to attain a tissue temperature approximately 16°

C. or lower.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one component of the system is incorporated into an article of clothing.

25. The system of claim 1, further comprising a neurostimulator.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the neurostimulator includes at least one of electric neurostimulator, magnetic neurostimulator, ultrasonic neurostimulator, or microwave neurostimulator.

27. The system of claim 1, further comprising an applicator configured to deliver a therapeutic medicament.

28. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one component of the system is incorporated into bedding, furniture, or upholstery.

29. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more sensors is a transdermal sensor.

30. A system comprising:

a non-transitory signal-bearing medium configured for use in a computing device including,

one or more instructions for applying cooling to one or more tissues of a vertebrate subject with one or more cooling elements of a treatment device, wherein the one or more cooling elements are configured to induce non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue of the vertebrate subject;

one or more instructions for processing information regarding at least one of a number of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or a type and quantity of food ingested by the vertebrate subject; and

one or more instructions for controlling the one or more cooling elements with a programmable controller operably coupled to the one or more cooling elements, the programmable controller configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to the information regarding the at least one of the number of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or the type and the quantity of food ingested by the vertebrate subject.

31. The system of claim 30, further comprising

one or more instructions for processing information regarding a plasma level of one or more metabolic analytes in the vertebrate subject from one or more sensors of the treatment device;

and

one or more instructions for controlling the one or more cooling elements with the programmable controller operably coupled to the one or more cooling elements and to the one or more sensors, the programmable controller configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to the information regarding the plasma level of the one or more metabolic analytes in the vertebrate subject from the one or more sensors.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising one or more instructions for comparing the information regarding the plasma level of the one or more metabolic analytes in the vertebrate subject to information of a standard value or preprogrammed value.

33. The system of claim 30, further comprising

one or more instructions for providing information from at least one of a sensor, a timekeeping device, a user interface, and an outside operating source to a digital processing unit;

one or more instructions for processing the information into at least one resulting instruction; and

one or more instructions for providing the at least one resulting instruction to the programmable controller.

34. The system of claim 30, further comprising one or more instructions for programming the programmable controller to induce weight loss.

35. The system of claim 30, further comprising one or more instructions for programming the programmable controller to treat a disorder.

36. The system of claim 30, further comprising one or more instructions for applying a neurostimulator to the external surface of the vertebrate subject.

37. The system of claim 30, further comprising one or more instructions for applying a neurostimulator to one or more tissues of the vertebrate subject.

38. The system of claim 30, comprising:

one or more instructions for receiving information from at least one user interface.

39. The system of claim 30, comprising:

one or more instructions for receiving information from at least one signal emitter.

40. The system of claim 30, comprising:

one or more instructions for receiving information from digital memory.

41. The system of claim 30, comprising:

one or more instructions for receiving the information regarding the at least one of the number of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or the type and the quantity of food ingested by the vertebrate subject received from an outside operating source.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the outside operating source comprises a wearable device.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the outside operating source comprises a personal computing device.

44. A system for modulating activity of brown

adipose tissue, comprising:

a cooling device including

a substrate sized for placement on an external surface of a vertebrate subject, the substrate including an adhesive material;

one or more cooling elements attached to the substrate and configured for contact with the external surface of the vertebrate subject;

a programmable controller operably coupled to the cooling device and configured to provide instructions to the one or more cooling elements in response to information regarding at least one of a number of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or a type and quantity of food ingested by the vertebrate subject.

45. The system of claim 44, further comprising a user input device operably coupled to the programmable controller and configured to receive and transmit the information regarding the at least one of the number of calories ingested by the vertebrate subject or the type and the quantity of food ingested by the vertebrate subject.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the user input device includes a wearable device.