Expandable Ingestible Pill With Gas-Driven Patch
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ingestible capsules for medication delivery in the gastrointestinal tract face challenges in effectively contacting and delivering medication to the intestinal wall, as they often rely on dissolution of coatings and expansion mechanisms that may not ensure consistent or high-efficiency medication release.
Innovation Solution
The development of an ingestible pill with an enteric coating and a medication-delivery device featuring a patch with a gas-generating substance and a wetting layer, which expands to contact the intestinal wall, and hollow medication-delivery needles that extend to release medication efficiently upon coating dissolution in the small intestine.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the capsule coating dissolves in the gastrointestinal tract to enable medication delivery, then the medication can be released, but the expansion mechanism may not ensure consistent or high-efficiency medication release
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs gas generation through chemical reaction (sodium bicarbonate reacting with acid) to create pressure that forces medication through hollow needles. This pneumatic mechanism ensures reliable and efficient medication delivery by using internal pressure to overcome the challenges of inconsistent dissolution and expansion, directly addressing the productivity-reliability contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes pH-dependent parameter changes: the enteric coating dissolves at specific pH levels in the gastrointestinal tract, triggering the gas-generating reaction. This parameter change (pH-triggered dissolution) ensures that medication release occurs at the appropriate location and time, improving both consistency and efficiency of delivery.
2Productivity
If the patch expands to contact the intestinal wall for medication delivery, then delivery effectiveness improves, but the device complexity increases due to multiple components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated patch device: the patch itself serves as both the expansion mechanism and the medication delivery platform. Hollow needles are integrated into the patch structure, and the gas-generating substance is incorporated within the same device. This merging reduces overall system complexity while maintaining delivery effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patch serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a structural support, an expansion mechanism, a medication reservoir, and a delivery system through integrated hollow needles. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components, thereby reducing device complexity while ensuring effective medication delivery to the intestinal wall.
3Productivity
If hollow medication-delivery needles are used to release medication efficiently, then bioavailability improves, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible patch material that can be manufactured with integrated hollow needles. The flexibility of the patch allows for integration of needle structures without requiring extremely precise rigid component assembly. This approach reduces manufacturing precision requirements while still enabling effective medication delivery through the hollow needles, improving bioavailability.
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
This design enhances medication delivery by ensuring consistent expansion of the patch to contact the intestinal wall and efficient release of medication through the needles, improving the bioavailability and delivery efficiency of the medication.
Implementation Method 1
a gas-generating substance that produces gas upon contact with liquid, the gas-generating substance disposed within the chamber
Implementation Method 2
a liquid-permeable and substantially gas-impermeable wetting layer, which entirely covers the at least one window
Implementation Method 3
a substantially water-impermeable and substantially gas-impermeable, elastic layer shaped so as to define at least one window therethrough
Data Source
AI summary
An ingestible pill (1220, 1320) is provided including a medication-delivery device (1224, 1324), which is configured to deliver a medication (52) and includes a patch (1230, 1330) (a) having upper and lower surfaces (1232, 1234) that face in generally opposite directions, (b) disposed within an enteric coating (22) in a compressed shape (1242), (c) configured to assume an expanded shape (1244) after the enteric coating (22) dissolves. The patch (1230, 1330) includes a chamber (1270) defined by (a) a substantially water-impermeable and substantially gas-impermeable, elastic layer (1274) shaped so as to define at least one window (1276) therethrough, and (b) a liquid-permeable and substantially gas-impermeable wetting layer (1278), which entirely covers the at least one window (1276) and is sealed to the elastic layer (1274) around the at least one window (1276). The patch (1230, 1330) further includes, disposed within the chamber (1270), a gas-generating substance (1280) that produces gas upon contact with liquid. Other embodiments are also described.