Capsule phototherapy
AssigneePhotopill Medical Ltd.
InventorsSharon Ben-Yehuda, Ram Ben-Yehuda
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Abstract
A swallowable capsule for providing phototherapy to a patient's gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the capsule including a power supply, one or more phototherapeutic light sources, a speed determination unit for calculating speed of movement of the capsule in the GI tract, and a controller unit for activating one or more of the one or more light sources for delivering a therapeutic illumination dose to a target site in the GI tract, based, at least in part, on a determined speed. Related apparatus and methods are also described.
Claims24
A programmable system for providing phototherapy to a patient's gastrointestinal (GI) tract, said system comprises at least one swallowable capsule, said capsule comprising:
- a power supply;
- at least one phototherapeutic light source configured to emit light at at least one wavelength in a range selected from a group consisting of visible light, Near Infra Red (NIR) light and any combination thereof;
- a speed determination unit for determining speed of movement of the capsule at at least one target site in the GI tract;
- a controller unit for controlling illumination by said at least one phototherapeutic light source to provide an effective phototherapeutic illumination dose in a range of 0.1-1.0 Joules/cm2 and for activating at least one of the at least one phototherapeutic light source for delivering said effective phototherapeutic illumination dose to said at least one target site, and
- at least one processor controlling instructions for said controller unit operation;
- wherein said processor is programmed to instruct said controller to calculate distance travelled along the GI tract, according to measured said speed of movement, and to turn ON said light source at at least one target site according to said distance travelled, said effective illumination dose is calculated by said processor according to the following formula:
- Required Power=C*Dose/Intestine Speed, in which
- C is a constant programmed in the controller;
- Dose is a constant programmed in the controller;
- and
- Intestine Speed is the speed of movement of the capsule in the GI tract.
A method for providing phototherapy to a portion of a GI tract comprising:
- swallowing at least one capsule, said capsule comprising:
- at least one phototherapeutic light source configured to emit light at at least one wavelength in a range selected from a group consisting of visible light, Near Infra Red (NIR) light and any combination thereof;
- a speed determination unit for calculating speed of movement of the capsule in the GI tract,
- a controller unit for controlling illumination by at least one of said at least one phototherapeutic light source so as to provide an effective phototherapeutic illumination dose to be in a range of 0.1-1.0 Joules/cm2 and for activating at least one of the at least one phototherapeutic light source for delivering said effective phototherapeutic illumination dose to said at least one target site, and
- at least one processor controlling instructions for said controller unit operation;
- wherein said processor is programmed to instruct said controller to calculate distance travelled along the GI tract, according to measured said speed of movement, and to turn ON said light source at at least pre-defined target area according to said distance travelled, said effective illumination dose is calculated by said processor according to the following formula:
- Required Power=C*Dose/Intestine Speed, in which
- C is a constant programmed in the controller;
- Dose is a constant programmed in the controller;
- and
- Intestine Speed is the speed of movement of the capsule in the GI tract.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.