Methods and Systems for Ultrasound Assisted Delivery of a Medicant to Tissue
AssigneeGuided Therapy Systems, LLC
InventorMichael H. Slayton
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Abstract
This disclosure provides methods and systems for ultrasound assisted delivery of a medicant to tissue. The delivery of the medicant is enhanced by the application of high intensity ultrasound pulses, which generate an intertial cavitation effect, an acoustic streaming effect, or both. This disclosure also provides methods and systems for alleviating pain or swelling associated with the application of ultrasound energy by delivering an anesthetic across a stratum corneum layer according to the methods described herein.
Claims30
A method for ultrasound-assisted delivery of a medicant through a stratum corneum layer of a skin surface, the method comprising:
- a) administering the medicant to the skin surface;
- b) coupling an ultrasound transducer to the medicant and the skin surface;
- and
- c) applying a first pulsed acoustic energy field from the ultrasound transducer to the skin surface, the first pulsed acoustic energy field having a frequency from 1 MHz to 30 MHz, a peak intensity from 100 W/cm2 to 100 kW/cm2, and a pulse width from 33 nanoseconds to 5 seconds, the first pulsed acoustic energy field generating inertial cavitation, acoustic streaming, or a combination thereof in the stratum corneum layer and driving the medicant through the stratum corneum layer.
A method for reducing or eliminating pain generated by ultrasound treatment, the method comprising:
- a) applying a coupling medium comprising a medicant to a skin surface above a region of interest, the medicant comprising an anesthetic configured to numb a tissue in the region of interest;
- b) coupling an ultrasound energy source to the coupling medium, the skin surface, and the region of interest;
- c) directing a first acoustic energy field from the ultrasound energy source into the skin surface, thereby delivering the medicant into the tissue in the region of interest and numbing the tissue in a portion of the region of interest;
- and
- d) directing a second acoustic energy field to a target volume in the tissue in the region of interest, the second acoustic energy field ablating the tissue in the target volume, the medicant reducing or eliminating pain generated by the ablating of the tissue.
A method of ultrasound-assisted transdermal drug delivery, the method comprising:
- a) contacting a skin surface with a coupling medium comprising a non-anesthetic medicant and an anesthetic;
- b) coupling an ultrasound energy source to the coupling medium and the skin surface;
- c) applying a first pulsed acoustic energy field from the ultrasound transducer to the skin surface, the first pulsed acoustic energy field having a peak intensity from 100 W/cm2 to 100 kW/cm2, thereby driving the medicant and the anesthetic across a stratum corneum layer of the skin surface and into an epidermis layer beneath the skin surface, the anesthetic alleviating pain or swelling associated with the application of the first pulsed acoustic energy field.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.