146 results about "Thermosensitive polymer" patented technology

The present invention provides methods for non-invasive localized delivery of biologically active molecules, comprising packaging a molecule(s) of interest inside a thermosensitive particle, administering said particles to a subject, and inducing localized release of said molecules from said particles using a focused heat source. The thermosensitive particles may be thermosensitive polymer nanoparticles or thermosensitive liposomes. The particles may be delivered to a subject by any technique, including infusion. The molecules may be released from the particles using any method which induces localized hyperthermia, including focused ultrasound.

The invention relates to thermosensitive polymers which contain magnetic and / or metallic colloids and whose physical structure can be altered through magnetic induction or through the supply of energy. The invention also relates to processes for the production of such thermosensitive polymers, and the use of such polymers for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

A two-step system for preparing biomaterials from polymeric precursors is disclosed. The method involves (a) shaping the polymeric precursors by inducing thermal gelation of an aqueous solution of the polymeric precursors and (b) curing the polymeric precursors by cross-linking reactive groups on the polymeric precursors to produce a cured material. The curing reaction involves either a Michael-type addition reaction or a free radical photopolymerization reaction in order to cross-link the polymeric materials. The biomaterials produced by this method have a variety of biomedical uses, including drug delivery, microencapsulation, and implantation.

One aspect of the present invention relates to methods of embolizing a vascular site in a mammal comprising introducing into the vasculature of a mammal a composition comprising an inverse thermosensitive polymer, wherein said inverse thermosensitive polymer gels in said vasculature, which composition may be injected through a small catheter, and which compositions gel at or below body temperature. In certain embodiments of the methods of embolization, said composition further comprises a marker molecule, such as a dye, radiopaque, or an MRI-visible compound.

One aspect of the present invention relates to a method of occluding a vascular site in a mammal, comprising the step of introducing into the vasculature of a mammal at or proximal to a surgical site, a composition comprising at least one optionally purified inverse thermosensitive polymer, wherein said inverse thermosensitive polymer gels in said vasculature, thereby temporarily occluding a vascular site of said mammal, wherein said temporarily occluded vasculature site is kept in a substantially cylindrical shape.

The present invention improves significantly the success rate of lithotripsy and reduces the risk of tissue damage, by injecting temporary plugs in front and behind a concretion (for extracorporeal lithotripsy) or behind a concretion (for intracorporeal lithotripsy). One aspect of the present invention relates to injecting an inverse thermosensitive polymer solution into a lumen, thereby preventing the migration of a concretion, or its fragments, upon extracorporeal or intracorporeal lithotripsy.

One aspect of the present invention relates to a method to control biological fluid flow at a site in a mammal by use of an in situ formed polymer plug. In certain embodiments, the present invention relates to a method to control bleeding following a catheterization procedure, a method to control leakage of cerebral spinal fluid following a lumbar puncture, a method to seal a fistula, or a method to control the flow of serous fluid after a lymphadenectomy. In certain embodiments, the polymer plug is generated in situ by temperature changes, pH changes or ionic interactions. In certain embodiments, the polymer plug comprises at least one optionally purified reverse thermosensitive polymer.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fire extinguishing agent that can extinguish fire and check the spread of fire by easily containing water therein by means of heat due to the fire and solidifying thereby adhering to a burning object; a fire extinguishing water and a method for extinguishing fire by using it. Concretely, the present invention relates to a fire extinguishing agent comprising a thermosensitive polymer that is water-soluble at a temperature not more than a specific preset temperature and that gels or solidifies by containing water therein by means of heat due to a fire which attains to a temperature not less than the preset temperature; a fire extinguishing water obtained by dissolving the fire extinguishing agent into water optionally with a flameproofing agent or other fire extinguishing fire agent; and a method for extinguishing fire using the fire extinguishing water.

Methods and apparatus are provided for temporarily occluding a body lumen. A method in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention includes introducing a tip of a catheter into the body lumen, the tip including a central longitudinal axis; expelling a thermosensitive polymer from the tip of the catheter into a portion of the body lumen, with at least a portion of the thermosensitive polymer being expelled from the tip in a direction generally radially outward from the central longitudinal axis to improve adherence of the thermosensitive polymer to a wall defining the body lumen; and at least partially withdrawing the tip from the body lumen and allowing the thermosensitive polymer to harden as it warms to body temperature to form a plug in the body lumen.

One aspect of the present invention relates to catheters that can be placed in or around bodily conduits to occlude or widen a biological lumen without imparting significant trauma to the lumen. In certain embodiments, the invention particularly relates to the use of a polymer composition which can be made to gel upon insertion into said balloon or skirt. In certain embodiments, the inflating viscous polymer composition is a liquid at room temperature and a gel at mammalian physiological temperature. In certain embodiments, the inflating viscous polymer composition comprises an optionally purified inverse thermosensitive polymer.

Disclosed are compositions, methods and kits to control bleeding through the use of an internal occluder based on polymeric solutions, including use of reverse thermosensitive polymers in nephron-sparing surgeries, which produces a completely bloodless surgical field, allowing speedy resection. In certain embodiments, after a certain amount of time, the flow gradually resumes, with no apparent adverse consequences to the kidney. In certain embodiments, return of blood flow may be accelerated by cooling the kidney. The compositions, methods and kits for perfusive organ hemostasis can also be used to simplify or to enable other organ surgeries or interventional procedures, including liver surgery, prostate surgery, brain surgery, surgery of the uterus, spleen surgery and any surgery on any highly vascularized organs.

A method of cleaning a fouled or a scaled RO or NF membrane surface with a solution containing one or more thermo-responsive polymers is disclosed. More specifically, the method comprises: treating the membrane surface in a membrane separation system with a solution containing one or more TRP, wherein said TRP is soluble in said solution and at least an effective amount of said TRP diffuses into a foulant layer on said membrane surface; making insoluble said TRP diffused into said foulant layer; optionally, rinsing the membrane.

The invention discloses a preparation method of electrical stimulation-near infrared dual response high strength hydrogel. The preparation method comprises the following steps: with taking a thermosensitive polymer monomer as a main raw material, adding a natural polymer to prepare thermosensitive deformable hydrogel with a semi-interpenetrating network structure; and then sequentially adsorbing an oxidizing agent and a pyrrole monomer by utilizing the swelling effect of the hydrogel so that the pyrrole monomer sufficiently permeates into a hydrogel network and is oxidized into polypyrrole by the oxidizing agent. Due to the introduction of polypyrrole, the prepared hydrogel has conductivity and near-infrared responsibility. When the hydrogel is in an energized state or is irradiated by near infrared light, temperature of the hydrogel rises, and the thermosensitive polymer network in the hydrogel structure contracts, so that volume and shape change, and light-electricity dual stimulation response is realized; meanwhile, stimulation response behaviour of the hydrogel has good sensitivity. The prepared hydrogel also has good mechanical properties and biocompatibility and can be applied to multiple fields of drug controlled release systems, memory element switches and the like.

Polymers which comprise polymer chains of terpolymer type which are constituted by poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) of PEO-PPO-PEO form, which are modified at their termini by groups which can essentially be other chains of PEO-PPO-PEO, acid segments, amine groups or PEOs, these chains being linked to the terpolymer chains via chemical bridges which are constituted by urethane bridges, urea bridges, allophanate bridges and biuret bridges, and which comprise more than 80% by weight of said PEO-PPO-PEO.Thermoreversible physical gels of high viscosification index, which contain these polymers, and their uses.Preparation of these polymers and of these gels.

One aspect of the present invention relates to catheters that can be placed in or around bodily conduits to occlude or widen a biological lumen without imparting significant trauma to the lumen. In certain embodiments, the invention particularly relates to the use of a polymer composition which can be made to gel upon insertion into said balloon or skirt. In certain embodiments, the inflating viscous polymer composition is a liquid at room temperature and a gel at mammalian physiological temperature. In certain embodiments, the inflating viscous polymer composition comprises an optionally purified inverse thermosensitive polymer.

An imaging member, such as a negative-working printing plate or on-press cylinder, can be prepared with a hydrophilic imaging layer comprised of a heat-sensitive hydrophilic polymer having ionic moieties and an infrared radiation sensitive oxonol dye that has a .lambda..sub.max of greater than 700 nm. The heat-sensitive polymer and IR dye can be formulated in water or water-miscible solvents to provide highly thermal sensitive imaging compositions. In the imaging member, the polymer reacts to provide increased hydrophobicity in areas exposed to energy that provides or generates heat. For example, heat can be supplied by laser irradiation in the IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The heat-sensitive polymer is considered "switchable" in response to heat, and provides a lithographic image without wet processing.

Polymers which comprise polymer chains of terpolymer type which are constituted by poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) of PEO-PPO-PEO form, which are modified at their termini by groups which can essentially be other chains of PEO-PPO-PEO, acid segments, amine groups or PEOs, these chains being linked to the terpolymer chains via chemical bridges which are constituted by urethane bridges, urea bridges, allophanate bridges and biuret bridges, and which comprise more than 80% by weight of said PEO-PPO-PEO. Thermoreversible physical gels of high viscosification index, which contain these polymers, and their uses. Preparation of these polymers and of these gels.

One aspect of the invention relates to use of a composition comprising a purified inverse thermosensitive polymer in an endoscopic procedure for gastrointestinal mucosal resectioning in a mammal. Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of gastrointestinal mucosal resectioning, comprising administering submucosally to a region of a gastrointestinal mucosa in a mammal an effective amount of a composition comprising a purified inverse thermosensitive polymer; and surgically resecting said region of gastrointestinal mucosa. Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a kit for use in gastrointestinal endoscopic mucosal resectioning in a mammal, comprising a composition comprising a purified inverse thermosensitive polymer; a syringe; and instructions for use thereof.

The invention relates to an energy-saving material, and particularly relates to a novel composition for intelligent dimming glass. The invention provides a novel composition for intelligent dimming glass in view of the technical defects that the intelligent dimming glass in the prior art is not ideal in shading effects, slow in response speed and the like. The novel composition comprises the following components: a thermosensitive polymer, a viscosity modifier, infrared absorption functional particles, a macromolecular solvent and an additive. The novel composition for the intelligent dimming glass provided by the invention has an automatic dimming function, the effects of warming in winter and cooling in summer are achieved, and the novel composition has good shading effects and simple preparation process, is a novel and efficient material for energy-saving and cost-reducing glass products, and has broad application prospect.

In certain embodiments, the present invention relates to methods and kits for treating wounds, comprising the step of introducing into said wound a composition comprising at least one optionally purified inverse thermosensitive polymer, wherein said at least one optionally purified inverse thermosensitive polymer forms a gel in said wound, thereby temporarily occluding said wound. In certain embodiments, the present invention relates to the aforementioned method wherein a wound to a blood vessel or a segment of the GI tract is occluded, thereby preventing exsanguination and / or septicemia. In other embodiments, the inventive methods and kits described herein may be used to ameliorate (e.g., fill) temporarily a defect in a biological lumen, thereby strengthening said defect, preventing rupture of, or maintaining, improving or optimizing fluid flow through said lumen.

The invention discloses a thermosensitive microcarrier as well as a preparation technology and an application method thereof. The thermosensitive microcarrier can be used for amplifying, culturing and harvesting high-quality and high-activity cells used for clinical treatment, and the high-quality and high-activity cells are applied to the fields of cell therapy and tissue engineering. The preparation technology comprises the following steps of: grafting active groups by virtue of chemical surface treatment while a high polymer material cell culture microballoon sphere as a matrix, then carrying out reaction on the high polymer material cell culture microballoon sphere and thermosensitive polymer to graft the thermosensitive polymer, so as to obtain a thermosensitive microcarrier used for cell culture, and controlling the temperature during cell culture, so that cells grow and are amplified while being attached onto the surface of the thermosensitive microcarrier; then lowering temperature and haversting cells with complete surface protein. On one hand, a method for amplifying massive cells used for treatment in a short time, on the other hand, no pancreatin or traditional dissociative reagent is used, so that damage on surface protein and ion channel of cells is reduced, the original function of the cells is maintained, and the thermosensitive microcarrier has strong clinical application value and economic value.

The present invention provides a bioreactor having a system that can grow cells, tissue, etc. while maintaining or improving their function, and finally recover the cells as they are with good efficiency. The bioreactor has a porous sheet-form material disposed in its main body, the porous sheet-form material being formed from a nonwoven fabric, etc. having high cell affinity in order to retain cells. This porous sheet-form material has a thermosensitive polymer and a cell-adhesive substance incorporated thereinto, and the porous sheet-form material is not only cell-adhesive but also allows cells and tissue to be detached from the porous sheet-form material as they are by, for example, cooling from 37° C. to 25° C. Furthermore, in order to efficiently ensure the bioactivity or the survival of the cells, it is arranged so that circulation of a culture medium in a culturing space of the bioreactor is of a radial flow type.

The invention discloses a lithium battery separator with a thermal switch function and a preparation method of the lithium battery separator. The lithium battery separator is prepared from the following raw materials in percentage by mass: 60%-90% of homopolypropylene and 10%-40% of a thermosensitive polymer additive, wherein the melting point of the homopolypropylene is 160-170 DEG C; and the thermosensitive polymer additive has a significant thermal expansion effect within a temperature range of 100-140 DEG C. The preparation method comprises the following steps: preparing a polypropylene base membrane through a flow-casting strip and preparing a microporous membrane through step-by-step two-way stretching to prepare the lithium battery separator with the thermal switch function. The prepared lithium battery separator is high in porosity and excellent in pore size distribution uniformity, and has excellent safety performance; the pore closing temperature is about 100-140 DEG C; the film breaking temperature is about 165 DEG C; meanwhile, when the separator is cooled to a room temperature, the closed micropores are opened again; the capacity and the service lifetime of the lithium battery are not affected; and the lithium battery separator can be applied to the field of mobile phone batteries, electric vehicle batteries and the like.

The invention discloses a synthesis method of in-situ-enhanced thermosensitive polymer. The synthesis method includes the following steps of homopolymerizing double-bond functional monomer or copolymerizing the double-bond functional monomer, carbonic ester, lactone and lactide on the conditions of hydroxy-containing initiators and amine catalysts, wherein the homopolymerization or copolymerization reaction temperature ranges from 50 DEG C to 80 DEG C, and reaction time ranges from 1 to 4 hours. The hydrogel is in a liquid state at low temperature while is in a gel state at physiological temperature, and can be injected with bioactive molecules and biological signals conveniently and is endowed with special bioactivity. Besides, the hydrogel can be degradable gradually at the physiological environment.

A process for preparing a thermosensitive polymer from a microemulsion is provided. The microemulsion comprises a monomer capable of forming a thermosensitive polymer and a polymerizable surfactant. Additional comonomers may be included in the microemulsion to vary the properties of the polymers produced. The resulting thermosensitive polymers may be nanoporous. The polymers according to the invention are suitable for use in medical applications, including use as a wound dressing and for delivery of cells to a graft site.

An affinity chromatography microdevice includes a top board and a bottom board. The top board includes an inlet and an outlet through which microfluid flows, and a reaction chamber for limiting the flow of the microfluid for reaction. The bottom board includes a microelectrode for independently controlling a micro-temperature, and a thermosensitive polymer matrix formed on the microelectrode. The thermosensitive polymer matrix is contracted or expanded according to temperature change.