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AssigneeIntrabrain International NV
InventorsEduard N. Lerner, Leonid Lerner
Estimating the term…
A device to enhance the delivery of a drug or other substance of interest into a selected organ or tissue, comprising special electrodes, one of the electrodes carrying a container with the selected drug or other substance of interest, said electrodes being capable of being positioned at preselected locations of said organ or tissue, wherein the electrodes are all connected with a selected energy source which generates and maintains an energy field before and during the enhanced delivery of said substance, under the influence of which delivery is accomplished in a direction from the active to the passive electrode and into said organ or tissue. The energy source may be selected from suitable sources providing an electric field, a magnetic field, ultrasonic waves, high energy waves like laser beams, or a combination thereof. Further a method for the enhanced delivery of said drug or other substance of interest to an internal organ or target tissue of an organism, for example the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier, is disclosed.
A device to enhance the delivery of a drug or other substance or compound of interest into a selected target organ or tissue of an organism, comprising a special apparatus, special electrodes, one of the special electrodes carrying a special container with the selected drug or other substance or compound of interest, said electrodes being capable of being positioned at preselected locations of said organ or tissue, wherein the electrodes are all connected with a selected energy source which generates and maintains an energy field before and during the enhanced delivery of said substance or compound, under the influence of which delivery is accomplished in a direction from the active to the passive electrode and into said organ or tissue.
Use of an electrode, provided with a drug or other substance or compound of interest, in the manufacture of an iontophoretic device, for the enhanced delivery of said substance or compound to a target organ or tissue of said organism without obtaining significant plasma levels of said drug, substance or compound by generating and maintaining an electric field over said target organ or tissue before and during the delivery of said drug or other substance or compound of interest.
An enhanced delivery of an effective amount of a drug or other biologically active substance or compound into an internal target organ or tissue of an organism, such as a mammal, particularly a human being, being in need of such a delivery with such a drug, or other substance or compound of interest, wherein said compound is enhanced as such to said organ or tissue from a carrying location in the body of said organism by means of energy-stimulated penetration generated and maintained by a field set between at least two electrodes being split or not, upon connection with a selected energy source, of which electrodes one electrode can function as an active electrode and one as passive electrode, of which at least one electrode is placed on the skin layer of said organism, and one electrode, having the opposite polarity, is placed near the place where said drug or other substance or compound of interest is to be delivered.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Constructional details: arrangements where at least part of the apparatus is introduced into the body
Galenical forms characterised by the drug release technique; Application systems commanded by energy: involving or responsive to electricity,…
Galenical forms characterised by the site of application: nose
Devices for delivering substances into the body: other apparatus for introducing media
Term end not estimated
Most of the efforts currently under way to discover new therapeutic drugs for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) will also face the problem of delivering them to the brain without impairing the activity or integrity of such substances or compounds, while minimizing systemic adverse effects. And that means finding a way around—or through—the blood brain barrier (BBB), a physiological barrier between bloodstream and brain.
A National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) study shows that, in the United States, one out of three individuals suffers from a CNS disorder at some time in life. Approximately two million in the same country have suffered a stroke, which is the third leading cause of death in the United States [17, 18].
After the discovery of the electrical nature of nerve impulse by Galvani in 1791, attention focused on the possibility of using electricity as a mode of drug delivery. Galvani provided a major stimulus for Volta to discover a source of constant current electricity, the voltaic pile or battery, and new research on the effects of direct current (DC) on animal tissues broadened the scientific basis for the entire subject of electrophysiology. It had long been known that medicines could be introduced into the human body by way of the skin. The skin has a selective permeability to lipophilic (lipid soluble) substances and acts as a barrier to hydrophilic (water soluble) substances. In 1747, Veratti suggested that hydrophilic drugs might be introduced to the subcutaneous tissue through human skin by the application of a direct current [5]. This mode has become known as iontophoresis (meaning ion transfer).
The invention will be explained further in the following examples and the accompanying drawings wherein
FIG. 1 shows a particular embodiment of an electrode according to the invention, whereas
FIGS. 2 to 6 show graphically the results obtained by using a device and method according to the invention, while—FIGS. 7a and 7b show the conveyance route of an active substance from a nostril into the brains.
In FIG. 1, the electrode comprising the conductive base member is represented by 1; this base member has preferably a hollow form, and is expediently coated with an insulating material for example a plastic, except the top areas, which carries the biologically active substance 2. The base member 1 is further connected to a source of current by means of line 3, connected to the conductive base material. The base member is further provided with one or more perforations 4. Although the electrode as represented in the f igure has a tube-like form, a substantial frusto-conical form or another form can be used. Further, the perforations 5 can have any form.
In FIGS. 7a and 7b the delivery of an active compound into the brains is schematically shown.
More specifically the compound is according to FIG. 7a applied into a nostril by means of the active electrode a. The passive electrode b is fixed on the back of the head. Both electrodes are connected with an energy source I. Upon activation of the electrodes a and b the active compound will be forced in a direction from a to b, as indicated by dotted lines f. To enhance the delivery of active compound into the target tissue e, for example to a tumour, the direction of delivery of the active substance can be bended by means of another pair of electrodes, i.e. the active electrode c and the passive electrode d. These electrodes c and d are connected to a different energy source II.