Remote control of substance delivery system
Embodiments of a system including a remotely controlled substance delivery device and associated controller are described. Methods of use and control of the device are also disclosed. According to some embodiments, a delivery device or related device may be placed in an environment in order to pump a material into the environment or into an additional fluid handling structure within the device. Exemplary environments include a body of an organism, a body of water, or an enclosed volume of a fluid. The concentration of a substance in the fluid to be delivered may be modified by a remote control signal. In selected embodiments, a magnetic field, an electric field, or electromagnetic control signal may be used.
1 . A method of delivering a material, comprising:
introducing a delivery device into an environment, the delivery device including an electromagnetically responsive control element, a pump, a fluid-containing structure containing a delivery fluid and a quantity of a primary material, the primary material being distributed between a first active form carried in the delivery fluid and a second form according to a first distribution in which the primary material has a first effective concentration in the delivery fluid equal to the concentration of the first active form in the delivery fluid, and wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is configured to modify the distribution of primary material between the first active form and the second form, and a pump, the pump being activatable for pumping delivery fluid from the fluid-containing structure to a downstream location; and
delivering an electromagnetic distribution control signal to the environment with signal characteristics selectively receivable by the electromagnetically responsive control element and sufficient to produce a change in the distribution of the primary material between the first active form and the second from to a second distribution, the primary material distributed according to the second distribution having a second effective concentration in the delivery fluid.
2 . The method of claim 1 , including activating the pump to pump delivery fluid containing the primary material at the second effective concentration out of the fluid containing structure.
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10 . A method of controlling a delivery device, comprising:
generating an electromagnetic control signal including frequency components absorbable by an electromagnetically responsive control element of a delivery device in an environment, the delivery device including a fluid-containing structure containing a delivery fluid and a quantity of primary material, the primary material being distributed between a first active form and a second form and having an effective concentration in the delivery fluid equal to the concentration of the first active form in the delivery fluid, wherein the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid is controllable by the electromagnetically responsive control element; and
remotely transmitting the electromagnetic control signal to the delivery device with signal characteristics sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element in the delivery device to control the effective concentration of primary material in the delivery fluid in the delivery device.
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25 . The method of claim 10 , including:
receiving user input of one or more control parameters; and
based upon the one or more control parameters, generating an electromagnetic control signal having signal characteristics expected to produce a desired effective concentration of primary material in the delivery fluid.
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29 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the steps of generating an electromagnetic control signal and remotely transmitting the electromagnetic control signal to the delivery device are performed according to instructions provided in the form of software, hardware or firmware.
30 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the steps of generating an electromagnetic control signal and remotely transmitting the electromagnetic control signal to the delivery device are performed according to instructions distributed among a plurality of controllers or transmitters.
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39 . The method of claim 10 , including generating the electromagnetic control signal under software control.
40 . The method of claim 10 , including modifying the concentration of the primary material within the delivery fluid in the fluid-containing structure of the delivery device by modifying the area of an interaction region within the fluid containing structure of the delivery device.
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47 . The method of claim 10 , wherein modifying the concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid within the fluid-containing structure of the delivery device includes modifying a condition at an interaction region within the fluid-containing structure.
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52 . The method of claim 10 , wherein modifying a condition at the interaction region includes modifying a condition within the fluid-containing structure.
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56 . Software for controlling delivery of a material from a delivery device, comprising:
instructions for generating an electromagnetic control signal including frequency components absorbable by an electromagnetically responsive control element of a delivery device in an environment, the delivery device including a fluid-containing structure containing a delivery fluid and a quantity of primary material, the primary material being distributed between a first active form and a second form and having an effective concentration in the delivery fluid equal to the concentration of the first active form in the delivery fluid, wherein the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid is controllable by the electromagnetically responsive control element; and
instructions for controlling the transmission of the electromagnetic control signal to the delivery device with signal characteristics sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element in the delivery device to control the effective concentration of primary material in the delivery fluid in the delivery device.
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61 . The software of claim 56 , including:
instructions for receiving a feedback signal corresponding to one or more parameters sensed from the environment; and
instructions for generating the electromagnetic control signal based at least in part upon the received feedback signal, the electromagnetic control signal having signal characteristics expected to produce a desired feedback signal.
62 . The software of claim 56 , including:
instructions for receiving a feedback signal from the osmotic pump device; and
instructions for generating the electromagnetic control signal based at least in part on the received feedback signal, the electromagnetic control signal having frequency composition and amplitude expected to produce a desired feedback signal.
63 . The software of claim 56 , including:
instructions for receiving user input of one or more control parameters; and
instructions for generating the electromagnetic control signal based at least in part upon the one or more control parameters.
64 . The software of claim 56 , including instructions for performing encryption of the electromagnetic control signal.
65 . The software of claim 56 , including instructions for performing an authentication procedure between a remote controller transmitting the electromagnetic control signal and a delivery device including the electromagnetically responsive control element intended to be activated by the electromagnetic control signal.
66 . The software of claim 56 , wherein at least a portion of the instructions generating the electromagnetic control signal and the instruction for controlling the transmission of the electromagnetic control signal are executable in distributed fashion on a plurality of microprocessors.
67 . The software of claim 56 , including channel allocation instructions configured to control the allocation of control signal transmission channels for transmission of a plurality of control signals to a corresponding plurality of delivery devices.
68 . The method of claim 1 , including activating the pump prior to introducing the delivery device into the environment, upon introduction of the delivery device into the environment, or subsequent to introducing the delivery device into the environment.
69 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary material has a different immunogenicity, reactivity, or stability when it is in the first active form than when it is in the second form.
70 . The method of claim 10 , including generating the electromagnetic control signal and transmitting the electromagnetic control signal to the delivery device with at least one remote controller.
71 . The method of claim 10 , including generating the electromagnetic control signal based on at least one of a model-based calculation, a stored pattern, a feedback control scheme, or a variable feedback control scheme.
72 . The method of claim 10 , including:
receiving a feedback signal corresponding to one or more parameters sensed from the environment by one or more sensors in the environment; and
based upon the feedback signal, generating the electromagnetic control signal with signal characteristics expected to produce a desired feedback signal.
73 . The method of claim 10 , including:
receiving a feedback signal from the delivery device sensed by one or more sensors in the delivery device; and
based upon the feedback signal, generating an electromagnetic control signal having signal characteristics that are expected to produce a desired feedback signal.
74 . The method of claim 10 , including activating the electromagnetically responsive control element to produce heating, cooling, or a change in configuration of the electromagnetically responsive control element.
75 . The method of claim 10 , wherein generating the electromagnetic control signal includes generating at least one of a static or quasi-static magnetic field, static or quasi-static electrical field, radio-frequency electromagnetic signal, microwave electromagnetic signal, millimeter wave electromagnetic signal, optical electromagnetic signal, infrared electromagnetic signal, or ultraviolet electromagnetic signal.
76 . The method of claim 40 , wherein modifying the area of the interaction region includes modifying the area of the interaction region, wherein the interaction region include interaction sites, and wherein modifying the area of the interaction region includes modifying at least one of the number of interaction sites in the interaction region and the distances between one or more interaction sites in the interaction region.
77 . The method of claim 47 , wherein modifying a condition at the interaction region includes heating at least a portion of the interaction region, cooling at least a portion of the interaction region, modifying the osmolality of at least a portion of the interaction region, modifying the pH of at least a portion of the interaction region, modifying the surface charge of at least a portion of the interaction region, or modifying the surface energy of at least a portion of the interaction region.
78 . The method of claim 52 , wherein modifying a condition within the fluid-containing structure includes at least one of modifying the volume of the fluid-containing structure, heating at least a portion of the fluid-containing structure, cooling at least a portion of the fluid-containing structure, modifying the osmolality within at least a portion of the fluid-containing structure, or modifying the pH within at least a portion of the fluid-containing structure.
79 . The software of claim 56 , wherein the instructions for generating the electromagnetic control signal include instructions for calculating the electromagnetic control signal based on at least one of a model, generating the electromagnetic control signal based on a pattern stored in a data storage location, generating the electromagnetic control signal based upon a feedback control algorithm, or generating the electromagnetic control signal based upon a variable feedback control algorithm.