Microchip drug delivery devices
US5797898A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 2, 1996 |
| Grant date | Aug 25, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 2, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61M2205/0244
- WIPO fieldPharmaceuticals
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Microchips are provided, which control both the rate and time of release of multiple chemical substances and which allow for the release of a wide variety of molecules in either a continuous or pulsatile manner. In all of the preferred embodiments, a material that is impermeable to the drugs or other molecules to be delivered and the surrounding fluids is used as the substrate. Reservoirs are etched into the substrate using either chemical (wet) etching or ion beam (dry) etching techniques well known in the field of microfabrication. Hundreds to thousands of reservoirs can be fabricated on a single microchip using these techniques. The molecules to be delivered are inserted into the reservoirs by injection or spin coating methods in their pure form or in a release system. Exemplary release systems include polymers and polymeric matrices, non-polymeric matrices, and other excipients or diluents. The physical properties of the release system control the rate of release of the molecules. The reservoirs can contain multiple drugs or other molecules in variable dosages. The filled reservoirs can be capped with materials that either degrade or allow the molecules to diffuse passively out…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.