IP Library Granted Patent US 12661435
Granted Patent B2
US 12661435 · App. 17/625,385 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Medical instrument

Inventors: Yuki Akagi (Tokyo, JP); Yasutaka Anraku (Tokyo, JP); Ichiro Sakuma (Tokyo, JP); Hayato Laurence Mizuno (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
A61L29/16A61L29/085A61L2300/602A61L2400/12
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12661435
App. No.
17/625,385
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

In a medical instrument that is inserted into an affected area or tissue to perform treatment, a technique of delivering various drugs to a target site is desired. Provided is a medical instrument that is inserted into an affected area or tissue to perform treatment, wherein a drug-loaded nanostructure is covalently bound to the medical instrument via a photosensitive linker immobilized on the surface of at least a portion of the medical instrument.

Claims (21)

1 . A medical instrument that is inserted into an affected area or tissue to perform treatment, wherein

a drug-loaded nanostructure is covalently bound to the medical instrument via a photosensitive linker immobilized on the surface of at least a portion of the medical instrument;

the photosensitive linker has a first functional group that forms a covalent bond with a terminal functional group on the surface of the nanostructure,

the nanostructure is a polymeric micelle, and the polymeric micelle is configured to comprise a block copolymer comprising a hydrophilic polymer chain and a polymer chain and the polymeric micelle has a core-shell structure having a core portion comprising the polymer chain and a drug and a shell portion comprising the hydrophilic polymer chain.

2 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the size of the nanostructure is 20 nm to 500 nm.

3 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the drug comprises at least one selected from among an agent, a pharmaceutical product, a diagnostic drug, and a nutritional supplement.

4 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the drug is enclosed in the nanostructure, or is physically or chemically bound to the nanostructure.

5 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the drug is soluble in water.

6 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the photosensitive linker is cleaved or decomposed by being exposed to a light, so that the nanostructure is released.

7 . The medical instrument according to claim 6 , comprising two or more types of photosensitive linkers that are cleaved or decomposed with lights each having different wavelengths.

8 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein

the photosensitive linker comprises at least one selected from among a double bond that binds two carbon atoms to each other, an azo bond, a peroxide bond, a bond that binds a carbon atom to a nitrogen atom, and a structure represented by the following formula (I):

wherein * represents a binding site, and R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, lower alkyl, lower alkoxy, amino, a halogen atom, hydroxy or cyano, or any two of the adjacent R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 together form a methylenedioxy group.

9 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , which is for use in the delivery of the drug to a tissue.

10 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the tissue comprises at least one selected from among coronary vascular system, peripheral vascular system, cerebrovascular system, esophagus, airway, sinus, trachea, colon, bile duct, urinary tract, prostate, intracerebral duct, and lower limbs.

11 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , which is selected from among a balloon, a catheter, a stent, and a probe.

12 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , further comprising a light source for use in the exposure of the photosensitive linker to a light, wherein the light source is selected from a light-emitting diode and a semiconductor laser.

13 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , further comprising a secondary medical instrument having an optical fiber or a photonic crystal fiber for use in the exposure of the photosensitive linker to a light.

14 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the photosensitive linker is cleaved or decomposed by being exposed to a light in a region at a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm.

15 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the drug is insoluble in water.

16 . The medical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein a combination of the first functional group and the terminal functional group on the surface of the nanostructure is selected from: a dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO) group and an azide group, a carboxyl group and an amino group, and a thiol group and a maleimide group.