Tissue ablation by shear force for sampling biological fluids and delivering active agents
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to a method and a device for transporting a molecule through a mammalian barrier membrane of at least one layer of cells comprising the steps of: ablating said membrane with a shear device; and utilizing a driving force to move said molecule through said perforated membrane.
1. A method for transporting a molecule through a mammal's mammalian barrier membrane of at least one layer of cells comprising the steps of:
contacting said mammalian barrier membrane with a sheet of a shear device, the sheet containing at least one opening;
forcing a portion of said mammalian barrier membrane through the at least one opening;
ablating said portion of said mammalian barrier membrane forced through the at least one opening with a shear member of said shear device, wherein the shear member ablates said portion of the mammalian barrier membrane by moving over the sheet and the at least one opening; and
utilizing a driving force to transport said molecule through the ablated portion of the mammalian barrier membrane.
2. A method of claim 1 , wherein said shear member is a shear blade.
3. A method of claim 2 , wherein said portion of said mammalian barrier membrane is forced through said opening by a pressure force.
4. A method of claim 3 , wherein said pressure force is mechanical pressure.
5. A method of claim 3 , wherein said pressure force is suction.
6. A method of claim 2 , wherein said shear blade moves parallel to said sheet.
7. A method of claim 1 , wherein said shear device further comprises a driving unit configured to move said shear member.
8. A method of claim 7 , wherein said driving unit is powered manually by a user of the shear device.
9. A method of claim 7 , wherein said driving unit is powered by an electric motor of the shear device.
10. A method of claim 7 , wherein said shear device further comprises a sensor configured for feedback from said sensor to control said driving unit.
11. A method of claim 10 , wherein said sensor is selected from the group consisting of pressure sensor, conductivity sensor, impedance sensor, pH and temperature sensor.
12. A method of claim 11 , wherein said sensor is an impedance sensor measuring the impedance of the mammalian barrier membrane.
13. A method of claim 12 , wherein the measurements from said impedance sensor are relayed to a microprocessor of the shear device.
14. A method of claim 1 , wherein said mammalian barrier membrane is selected from the group consisting of skin, buccal, vaginal, and rectal membranes.
15. A method of claim 1 , wherein said mammalian barrier membrane is human skin.
16. A method of claim 1 , wherein said driving force is selected from a group consisting of iontophoresis, electro-osmosis, reverse iontophoresis, electroporation, phonophoresis, pressure gradients, and concentration gradients.
17. A method of claim 1 , wherein said molecule is a pharmaceutical transported through said mammalian barrier membrane into said mammal.
18. A method of claim 17 , wherein said pharmaceutical is selected from the group consisting of polysaccharides, peptides, proteins, and polynucleotides.
19. A method of claim 17 , wherein said molecule is a vaccine.
20. A method of claim 19 , wherein said molecule is a vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus.
21. A method of claim 1 , wherein said molecule is transported from within said mammal out through said mammalian barrier membrane.
22. A method of claim 16 , wherein said molecule is glucose.
23. A method of claim 1 , wherein said shear member moves parallel to said sheet.
24. A method of claim 1 , wherein the area of at least one of said at least one opening is about 0.001 to 5 mm 2 .