Granted Patent B2

US 12,268,832 · App. 18/148,574 · Granted Apr 8, 2025

Inventors: Robert S. Langer (Newton, MA); Carlo Giovanni Traverso (Newton, MA); Alex G. Abramson (St. Louis, MO); Michael Williams (Enterprise, OR); Jacob Wainer (Malden, MA)

Assignees: Massachusetts Institute of Technology; The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.

A61M31/002A61B5/14503A61B5/14539A61B10/02A61J3/07A61K9/0002A61K9/0012A61K9/0021A61K9/0065A61K9/0092A61K9/4808A61K9/4866A61K38/28A61M5/14276A61M5/1454A61M5/158A61M5/2033A61M5/329A61M5/3295A61M37/0015A61M37/0069A61N1/325A61N1/36007A61B2010/0208A61B10/0233A61B10/06A61M2005/14284A61M2005/1581A61M2005/1585A61M2037/0023A61M2037/0053A61M2205/0238A61M2205/21A61M2210/1053A61M2210/106A61N1/0509

Abstract

Claims (21)

1. A self-righting article, comprising:

an outer shell and a tissue-engaging surface;

a first pharmaceutical agent disposed within the outer shell; and

a second pharmaceutical agent, different than the first pharmaceutical agent, disposed within the outer shell,

wherein the self-righting article comprises a monostatic body due to a center of mass of the self-righting article and/or a shape of the outer shell, such that the self-righting article has a single stable resting position corresponding to the tissue-engaging surface.

2. A self-righting article as in claim 1 , further comprising a first tissue interfacing component comprising the first pharmaceutical agent.

3. A self-righting article as in claim 2 , further comprising a second tissue interfacing component comprising the second pharmaceutical agent.

4. A self-righting article as in claim 3 , wherein the first tissue interfacing component comprises the first pharmaceutical agent in an amount of greater than or equal to 10 wt % versus the total first tissue interfacing component weight and the second tissue interfacing component comprises the second pharmaceutical agent in an amount of greater than or equal to 10 wt % versus the total second tissue interfacing component weight.

5. A self-righting article as in claim 2 , further comprising a spring maintained by a support material under compressive strain.

6. A self-righting article as in claim 5 , wherein the first tissue interfacing component is operably linked to the spring.

7. A self-righting article as in claim 5 , wherein the self-righting article is configured such that at least a portion of the first pharmaceutical agent is released from the self-righting article upon at least partial degradation of the support material.

8. A self-righting article as in claim 5 , wherein the spring has a spring constant of greater than or equal to 100 N/m and less than or equal to 20000 N/m.

9. A self-righting article as in claim 5 , wherein the spring is compressed by greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 5 mm from the uncompressed length of the spring.

10. A self-righting article as in claim 5 , wherein the spring is configured to release at least 10% of a stored compressive energy of the spring within 10 min of exposing the support material to a fluid.

11. A self-righting article as in claim 3 , wherein at least one of the tissue interfacing components is a needle.

12. A self-righting article as in claim 3 , wherein the self-righting article is configured such that at least one tissue interfacing component has a longest longitudinal axis oriented at greater than or equal to 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees of vertical upon self-righting.

13. A self-righting article as in claim 1 , wherein the self-righting article is configured such that at least a portion of the second pharmaceutical agent is released from the self-righting article upon at least partial degradation of a support material.

14. A self-righting article as in claim 1 , wherein the self-righting article has a largest cross-sectional dimension of less than or equal to 2 cm.

15. A self-righting article as in claim 1 , wherein a tissue interfacing component comprises the first pharmaceutical agent and the second pharmaceutical agent.

16. A self-righting article as in claim 15 , wherein, upon ingestion by a subject, the single stable resting position is oriented such that a longitudinal axis of the tissue interfacing component is orthogonal to a tissue located internal to the subject.

17. A self-righting article as in claim 16 , wherein, upon ingestion by a subject and upon obtaining the single stable resting position, the tissue-engaging surface of the self-righting article contacts a tissue at a location internal to the subject.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (400)

Cited By (1)

US 12,678,605