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US 6,471,675 B1Granted
Passive flow control devices for implantable pumps
AssigneeMedtronic, Inc.
InventorsCharles Rogers, Warren Starkebaum, Raymond McMullen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An implantable drug delivery device is provided with a passive flow control device is provided in the form of a valve which may assume two flow states. Flow control is achieved by duty cycling the valve using a control module which generates appropriate signals in response to an input telemetry signal corresponding to a desired flow rate. In another embodiment, a passively controlled bolus delivery device is provided to deliver a bolus of drug in addition to normal dosage.
Claims1
A method of controlling flow in an implantable drug delivery device comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a bi-stable flow control element;
- b) providing a control module for generating a signal to the flow control element;
- c) duty cycling the flow control element to obtain a desired average flow rate over time;
- d) providing a bolus delivery component in parallel communication with the flow control element;
- and
- e) controlling operation of the bolus delivery component to permit accumulation of a predetermined amount of drug bolus in the bolus delivery device and subsequent release of the accumulated bolus.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.