Sustained Release Formulation for Uterine Fibroid Treatment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for uterine fibroids are often invasive, associated with significant side effects, and may not provide sustained efficacy, leading to recurrence and the need for multiple procedures.
Innovation Solution
A sustained release formulation (SRF) is delivered locally via a needle syringe to target uterine tissue, providing relief from fibroid symptoms while minimizing damage to surrounding tissues and ovaries. The SRF is designed for repeatable administration, ensuring consistent drug delivery and reducing the risk of adverse effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If invasive surgical treatments are used to treat uterine fibroids, then efficacy is improved, but patient side effects and invasiveness increase
Solution Approach 1:
A sustained release formulation (SRF) is used as an intermediary carrier to deliver therapeutic agents directly to fibroid tissue. The SRF encapsulates the drug and controls its release over time, enabling effective treatment while minimizing systemic exposure and side effects. This mediator approach allows the drug to act locally at the fibroid site without requiring invasive surgery or causing widespread harm to healthy tissues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical surgical intervention with a chemical/biological treatment approach. Instead of physically removing fibroids through surgery, the invention uses pharmacological agents delivered via SRF to treat fibroids chemically. This substitution eliminates the need for invasive mechanical procedures while achieving comparable or superior therapeutic outcomes with fewer side effects.
2Ease of operation
If conventional drug delivery methods are used, then treatment can be administered, but drug diffusion is uncontrolled and affects surrounding tissues
Solution Approach 1:
The SRF provides localized drug delivery directly to the fibroid tissue with controlled release properties. The formulation is designed to release the therapeutic agent specifically at the target site over an extended period, creating a localized high concentration of drug where it is needed while maintaining low concentrations in surrounding healthy tissues. This local quality approach ensures effective treatment without harming adjacent structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The sustained release formulation provides continuous drug delivery over an extended period rather than a single bolus dose. This continuous action maintains therapeutic drug levels at the fibroid site throughout the treatment period, ensuring consistent efficacy while reducing the need for repeated administrations and minimizing peak concentration effects that could harm surrounding tissues.
3Device complexity
If single administration treatments are used, then procedure simplicity is improved, but treatment duration is extended and recurrence occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The SRF enables a single administration procedure that provides continuous drug release over an extended period. The formulation is designed to maintain therapeutic drug levels throughout the treatment duration, eliminating the need for multiple injections or surgeries while achieving complete and sustained treatment效果. This continuous action from a single dose simplifies the procedure while extending the effective treatment period without recurrence.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the release rate parameter of the drug delivery system by using a sustained release formulation. Instead of rapid drug release that would require frequent re-administration, the SRF modifies the release kinetics to provide slow, continuous drug delivery. This parameter change extends the effective treatment duration from a single procedure while maintaining therapeutic efficacy and preventing recurrence.
Data Source
AI summary
Minimally invasive treatment methods for uterine fibroids. A system includes a sustained release formulation comprising a cytostatic or cytotoxic drug, and an applicator or delivery system for local delivery of a composition comprising or consisting essentially of the sustained release formulation to the uterus.