Dual Depth Electroporation Applicator for Muscle and Skin Transfection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electroporation techniques face limitations in effectively delivering DNA vaccines to both muscle and skin tissues, resulting in inadequate immune responses, with a need for improved electrode assemblies that can enhance transfection efficiency across both tissue types.
Innovation Solution
Dual depth electroporation devices are developed, featuring a combination of needle electrodes for intramuscular and intradermal delivery, allowing simultaneous or sequential administration of electrical pulses to both muscle and skin tissues, optimizing immune response generation through humoral and cellular responses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If single-tissue electroporation is used (either muscle or skin), then the device structure is simple, but the immune response is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two separate electroporation functions (intramuscular and intradermal) into a single integrated device. The electrode assembly includes both long needles for muscle penetration and short needles for skin penetration, allowing simultaneous delivery of electrical pulses to both tissue types to generate comprehensive immune responses including both humoral and cellular responses
Solution Approach 2:
The dual-depth electroporation device is designed to perform multiple functions: it can electroporate both muscle tissue and skin tissue through a single application. The electrode array is configured with different needle lengths to accommodate different tissue depths, making the device universally applicable for delivering DNA vaccines to multiple tissue types
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple electrode sets are combined for dual tissue delivery, then transfection efficiency improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode assembly is segmented into distinct sets of needles with different lengths - long needles for intramuscular delivery and short needles for intradermal delivery. This segmentation allows each electrode set to be optimized for its specific tissue target while maintaining a unified device structure that can be controlled by a single pulse generator
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the electrode assembly have different properties: the long needles are configured for deep muscle penetration while the short needles are configured for superficial skin penetration. Each electrode set delivers electrical pulses with parameters optimized for its specific tissue target, achieving high transfection efficiency in both muscle and skin
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The dual depth electroporation devices effectively transfect biomolecules in both muscle and skin tissues, generating robust immune responses, including antibody titers and cellular responses, as demonstrated by enhanced GFP expression and antibody titers in guinea pig models compared to single-tissue electroporation methods.
Implementation Method 1
Electroporation technology is currently being researched in conjunction with DNA vaccines, and other biologicals, to enhance delivery into cells of mammals in vivo
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to dual depth electroporation devices capable of electorporating both muscle tissue and skin tissue in a single application in order to generate a broad immune response in a subject, and uses of the same.