Apparatus and methods for enhanced drug delivery
AssigneeSentinent Holdings, LLC
InventorAlvaro J. Laguna
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and method for using a sleeve for enhanced drug delivery are described. The sleeve may incorporate porous materials and may be coated or treated with various drugs and/or therapeutic agents. The sleeve may be utilized in cooperation with balloon catheters and/or other devices. When acting as a reservoir for holding various drugs and/or therapeutic agents, the drug delivery sleeve provides a means of reducing drug losses as well as a controlled mechanism for drug release. The materials for the sleeve, constructed by various techniques, may be circumferentially distensible, may be elastic, and may have varying degrees of recoil as needed for any particular purpose.
Claims29
A system for delivering a first therapeutic agent within a bodily conduit, comprising:
- an inflatable balloon with which the first therapeutic agent is associated;
- and
- a sleeve, disposed over the inflatable balloon at a location that at least covers the first therapeutic agent as associated with the inflatable balloon, including at least one layer of porous material, comprised of a plurality of microstructural elements and having a native porosity, wherein the plurality of microstructural elements of at least a portion of the at least one layer of porous material are arranged to decrease the native porosity of the at least one layer of porous material to inhibit the first therapeutic agent from being released through the at least one layer of porous material when the inflatable balloon and the sleeve are inserted within the bodily conduit and to allow the first therapeutic agent to be released through the at least one layer of porous material for delivery at the desired location within the bodily conduit, via spacings that are formed between adjacent ones of the arranged plurality of microstructural elements, when the sleeve is subsequently caused to be distended by use of an expansion device cooperable with the inflatable balloon.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.