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US 8,275,455 B2Granted
Medical devices employing conductive polymers for delivery of therapeutic agents
AssigneeBoston Scientific Scimed, Inc.
InventorsJames Lee Shippy, III, Jan Weber, Karl Jagger, Tracee Eidenschink, Liliana Atanasoska
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In accordance with one aspect, the invention relates to medical devices which comprise at least one reservoir, a therapeutic-agent-containing region disposed within the reservoir and an electrode comprising a conductive polymer. The devices of the invention are configured such that a rate of release of the therapeutic agent from the reservoir changes upon a change in the oxidation state of the conductive polymer.
Claims25
A medical device comprising:
- a reservoir having an internal surface, a therapeutic-agent-containing material that comprises a therapeutic agent disposed within the reservoir, and a first electrode comprising a first conductive polymer that defines at least a portion of the internal surface of the reservoir, wherein a rate of release of the therapeutic agent from the reservoir begins or is increased upon the application of a potential that is sufficient to change the oxidation state of the first conductive polymer, wherein the conductive polymer reversibly swells or shrinks upon the change in oxidation state,
- (a) wherein the first conductive polymer defines at least a portion of a surface of walls of the reservoir and wherein the change in oxidation state swells the first conductive polymer, reducing the volume of the reservoir and expelling the therapeutic-agent-containing material such that the rate of release of the therapeutic agent from the reservoir begins or is increased or
- (b) wherein the first conductive polymer connects two opposing walls of material which form said reservoir and wherein the change in oxidation state shrinks the first conductive polymer such that the walls are drawn together, reducing the volume of the reservoir and expelling the therapeutic-agent-containing material such that the rate of release of the therapeutic agent from the reservoir begins or is increased.
A medical device comprising:
- a reservoir having an internal surface, a therapeutic-agent-containing material that comprises a therapeutic agent disposed within the reservoir, and a first electrode comprising a first conductive polymer that defines at least a portion of the internal surface of the reservoir, wherein a rate of release of the therapeutic agent from the reservoir begins or is increased upon the application of a potential that is sufficient to change the oxidation state of the first conductive polymer, wherein the conductive polymer reversibly swells or shrinks upon the change in oxidation state, wherein said reservoir is capped with an ion permeable barrier layer.
A medical device comprising:
- (a) a reservoir having an internal surface, (b) a therapeutic-agent-containing material that comprises a therapeutic agent disposed within the reservoir, (c) a first electrode comprising a first conductive polymer, and (d) a second electrode that comprises a second conductive polymer, wherein the first conductive polymer defines at least a portion of the surface of walls of the reservoir and wherein the second conductive polymer defines at least a portion of the surface of the mouth of the reservoir, and wherein a rate of release of the therapeutic agent from the reservoir begins or is increased upon the application of a potential that is sufficient to change the oxidation state of the first and second conductive polymers such that the first conductive polymer swells and the second conductive polymer shrinks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.