Methods and apparatus for improved administration of pharmaceutically active compounds
AssigneeZars, Inc.
InventorsJie Zhang, Hao Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for improving administration of drugs through the use of heat and other physical means. The present invention relates to the use of heat and other physical means in conjunction with specially designed dermal drug delivery systems, conventional commercial dermal drug delivery systems, or drugs delivered into a sub-skin depot site via injection and other methods to alter, mainly increase, the drug release rate from the dermal drug delivery systems or the depot sites to accommodate certain clinical needs.
Claims68
A method of controlling the rate of absorption of a drug in a target area of a human body comprising:
- initiating the transdermal administration of a drug to a portion of the body;
- activating a controlled temperature modification apparatus proximate the drug being administered by exposing to oxygen an oxygen-activated exothermic medium disposed within the controlled temperature modification apparatus;
- and
- varying the amount of oxygen to which the exothermic medium is exposed to vary a rate of reaction of the exothermic medium and thereby adjusting the temperature of said target area of the body with said controlled temperature modification apparatus.
A method of controlling the rate of absorption of a drug in a target area of a human body comprising:
- initiating the transdermal administration of a drug to a portion of the body activating an apparatus capable of generating heat by exposing oxygen-activated exothermic medium disposed within the apparatus to oxygen proximate said drug being administered;
- and
- varying the amount of oxygen to which the exothermic medium are exposed to vary a rate of reaction of the exothermic medium thereby heating skin proximate said portion of the body to a temperature of between about 38 and 45° C. with said apparatus to achieve a desired concentration of said drug in said target area.
A method of adjusting the concentration of insulin in a human body comprising:
- injecting insulin in a sustained release form into a portion of said human body;
- applying a temperature modification apparatus proximate said injected, sustained release insulin prior to the intake of food;
- and
- increasing the temperature of skin proximate said portion of said human body with said temperature modification apparatus by exposing oxygen-activated exothermic medium disposed within the apparatus to oxygen and varying the amount of oxygen to which the exothermic medium are exposed to oxygen and rate of reaction of the exothermic medium to achieve a desired increased concentration of said insulin in said human body.
A method of adjusting the concentration of testosterone in a human body comprising:
- administering testosterone in a sustained release formulation into a portion of said human body within about 3 centimeters from a skin surface;
- applying a temperature modification apparatus proximate said injected, sustained release testosterone;
- and
- increasing the temperature of skin proximate said portion of said human body with said temperature modification apparatus by exposing oxygen-activated exothermic medium disposed within the apparatus to oxygen and varying the amount of oxygen to which the exothermic medium are exposed to vary a rate of reaction of the exothermic medium to achieve a desired increased concentration of said testosterone in said human body.
A method of controlling the rate of absorption of a drug in a target area of the human body comprising:
- initiating the transdermal administration of a drug to a portion of the body activating a controlled temperature apparatus capable of generating heat by exposing oxygen-activated exothermic medium disposed within the apparatus to oxygen and varying the amount of oxygen to which the exothermic medium is exposed to vary a rate of reaction of the exothermic medium and thereby adjusting the temperature the portion of the body proximate said drug being administered to provide a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time.
A method of controlling the rate of absorption of a drug in a target area of a human body comprising:
- initiating the transdermal administration of a drug to a portion of the body;
- activating a controlled temperature modification apparatus proximate the drug being administered to a provide steady rate of drug delivery by exposing oxygen-activated exothermic medium disposed within the controlled temperature modification apparatus to oxygen;
- and
- increasing the amount of oxygen to which the exothermic medium are exposed to increase a rate of reaction of the exothermic medium and thereby increase the temperature of said portion of the body with said controlled temperature modification apparatus to provide a therapeutic dose of said drug to treat a breakthrough pain episode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.