阅读说明：本技术 微递送装置 (Micro delivery device ) 是由 李柏颖 郑宗杰 于 2020-02-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请提供一种电化学泵,以及包括其微递送装置。该电化学泵(3)包括一基板(310)和至少一平面电极(311)。该基板(310)具有一上表面(3101)。该平面电极(311)设置于该上表面(3101)并包括至少一锐角(3113)。(The present application provides an electrochemical pump, and a micro-delivery device including the same. The electrochemical pump (3) comprises a substrate (310) and at least one planar electrode (311). The substrate (310) has an upper surface (3101). The planar electrode (311) is disposed on the top surface (3101) and includes at least one acute angle (3113).)

1. A micro delivery device, comprising:

a substrate having an upper surface;

a housing disposed over the upper surface of the substrate and defining a chamber between the housing and the substrate;

a planar electrode disposed on the upper surface of the substrate;

a partition arranged in the chamber and separating the chamber into an upper sump and a lower sump; and

a conduit inserted into an opening of the housing and in fluid communication with the upper reservoir;

wherein at least one acute angle is formed on the surface of the planar electrode.

2. The micro-delivery device of claim 1, wherein the planar electrode has a first side and a second side opposite to the first side in a cross-sectional view, and at least one acute angle is formed at the first side and/or the second side.

3. The micro-delivery device of claim 1, wherein the planar electrode has a first side and a second side opposite to the first side in a cross-sectional view, the planar electrode further comprises a top surface connecting the first side and the second side, and at least one acute angle is formed on the top surface.

4. The micro delivery device of claim 1, wherein the planar electrode further comprises a top surface and a bottom surface opposite the top surface, the top surface has an area larger than that of the bottom surface, and the acute angle is formed between a side surface of the planar electrode and the top surface in a cross-sectional view.

5. The microdelivery device of claim 1, wherein the acute angle is between 0.01-90 °.

6. The microdelivery device of claim 1 wherein the width of the acute angle is between 0.01-100 μm.

7. The micro delivery device of claim 1, wherein the acute angle is formed by an isotropic or anisotropic etching process.

8. The micro delivery device of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the acute angle is formed in a saw-tooth shape and protrudes from the surface.

9. The micro delivery device of any of claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the acute angle is formed in a pyramidal shape and protrudes from the surface.

10. The micro delivery device of claim 1, wherein the planar electrode porous electrode.

11. The micro delivery device of claim 1, further comprising an electronic device electrically connected to the planar electrode.

12. The micro delivery device of claim 1, wherein the planar electrode is hydrophilic and the substrate is hydrophilic.

Technical Field

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/807,538 filed on 2019, 2/19, pursuant to 35u.s.c. § 119(a), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present application relates to a micro delivery device. In particular, the present application relates to an electrochemical pump for a micro delivery device.

Background

Traditionally, electrolytic pump products use smooth microelectrodes. The prior art has developed the use of plated microelectrodes, increased surface roughness, and increased electrical efficiency of the pump. However, the preparation method of the electrode design cannot repeatedly achieve the form of the electrode surface, so that the reliability of the pump function is reduced.

Recently in the pharmaceutical industry, the technology of miniaturized micropumps for delivering therapeutic drugs is considered to be an area where further improvements can be developed. Some of the deficiencies of conventional therapeutic drug delivery pump designs remain to be improved. For example, low pumping power due to low local electric fields in the electrolyte and low pumping power from low solid surface free energy.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an apparatus or method that improves upon and solves the above-mentioned problems.

Disclosure of Invention

One embodiment of the present invention provides a micro delivery device, comprising: a substrate, a housing, a planar electrode, a spacer, and a conduit. The substrate has an upper surface. The housing is disposed over the upper surface of the substrate and defines a chamber between the housing and the substrate. The planar electrode is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate. The partition is arranged in the chamber and separates the chamber into an upper storage tank and a lower storage tank. The conduit is inserted into an opening of the housing and is in fluid communication with the upper reservoir. At least one acute angle is formed on the surface of the planar electrode.

In a specific embodiment, the planar electrode has a first side and a second side opposite to the first side in a cross-sectional view, and at least one acute angle is formed at the first side and/or the second side.

In a specific embodiment, the planar electrode has a first side surface and a second side surface opposite to the first side surface in a cross-sectional view, the planar electrode further includes a top surface connecting the first side surface and the second side surface, and at least one acute angle is formed on the top surface.

In a specific embodiment, the planar electrode further includes a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to the top surface, the top surface has an area larger than that of the bottom surface, and the acute angle is formed between a side surface of the planar electrode and the top surface in a cross-sectional view.

In one specific embodiment, the acute angle is between 0.01 and 90 degrees.

In one specific embodiment, the width of the acute angle is between 0.01 μm and 100 μm.

In one specific embodiment, the acute angle is formed by an isotropic or anisotropic etching process.

In a specific embodiment, the acute angle is formed in a saw-tooth shape and protrudes from the surface.

In a specific embodiment, the acute angle is formed in a pyramidal shape and protrudes from the surface.

In a specific embodiment, the planar electrode is a porous electrode.

In a specific embodiment, the electronic device is electrically connected to the planar electrode.

In a specific embodiment, the planar electrode has a hydrophilic property and the substrate has a hydrophilic property.

Drawings

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.

Figure 1 a schematic cross-sectional view of a delivery device of example 1 of the present application.

Figure 2 a schematic perspective view of an electric pump according to embodiment 2 of the present application.

Figure 3 top view of the electric pump of the present embodiment 3-1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a sharp corner formed on a planar electrode: (a) a tapered shape and (b) a pointed shape.

Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electric pump of the present application, example 3-2.

Figure 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electric pump according to example 4 of the present application.

Figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electric pump according to example 5 of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a delivery device according to an alternative embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic of flow versus time for a micro-delivery device with a planar electrode with sharp corners or a planar electrode with a smooth surface and a visualization of the planar electrode surface taken using a scanning electron microscope.

Detailed Description

The technical features of the present application, including specific features, disclosed in the claims, are better understood from the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, examples of which are set forth below, and the accompanying drawings. Moreover, the disclosure of the present specification can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art, and all equivalent changes and modifications which do not depart from the inventive concept can be covered by the claims.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Where the singular forms "a," "an," "the," or their plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, refer to the plural referents as separate entities. As used herein, the terms "or", "and", unless otherwise indicated, refer to "or/and". Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "including" are not intended to be limiting, open-ended terms. The foregoing definitions are merely illustrative of the meaning of the terms used and should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials used herein are readily available commercially.

Ordinal numbers such as "first," "second," etc., used in the specification and claims are used for the purpose of describing the disclosed elements only and are not intended to indicate or imply any order of execution between the elements, nor is the order in which the steps of a process or sequence of steps between an element and another element. These ordinals are used only to clearly distinguish one element having a certain name from another element having a same name.

In addition, the terms "on," "over," "above," or the like, refer to a component being in direct contact with another component, such as a substrate, but also refer to a component being not in direct contact with another component, such as a substrate.

Example 1

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a delivery device 1 according to embodiment 1 of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the delivery device includes a base plate 110, a rigid housing 12, a spacer 13, a conduit 14, and an electronic device 15.

A planar electrode 111 and the rigid housing 12 are disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 110, and a chamber is defined by the rigid housing 12 and the substrate 111. The spacer 13 is configured to: is disposed within the chamber 16 and separates the chamber 16 to form an upper sump 161 and a lower sump 162. The upper reservoir 161 may be filled with a therapeutic agent. The lower reservoir 162 may be filled with liquid reactants for electrolysis. The conduit 14 is inserted into an opening in the rigid housing 12 and is in fluid communication with the upper reservoir 161. The electronic device 15 is electrically connected to the planar electrode 111 and provides power to the planar electrode 111. In the present embodiment, the spacer 13 is a diaphragm. The substrate 110, the planar electrode 111, the conduit 14, the chamber 16, and the spacer 13 together constitute an electrochemical pump of the present invention for delivering a drug. In addition, the spacer 13 can also be a blocking member formed by a rubber plug.

Example 2

Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of the electric pump of embodiment 2 of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the electrochemical pump 2 includes a substrate 210 and at least one planar electrode 211 (e.g., a cathode and an anode).

The substrate 210 has an upper surface 2101. In addition, the substrate 210 may be formed of, but not limited to, a biocompatible material. In the present embodiment, the substrate 210 is a glass substrate.

The planar electrode 211 is disposed on the upper surface 2101 of the substrate 210.

Example 3-1

Example 3-1 is similar to example 1 and example 2, and the same parts are not repeated, and the description of the similar parts is as follows. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the electric pump of the present application, embodiment 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the electric pump 3 includes a substrate 310 and at least one planar electrode 311.

The planar electrode is disposed on the upper surface 3101 of the substrate 310. In addition, in the embodiment, the planar electrode 311 has a first side surface 3111, a second side surface 3112, and a third side surface 3110. At least one sharp corner 3113 can be observed from a top cross-sectional view of the electrochemical pump. The third side 3110 of the planar electrode 311 is defined as a surface connecting the first side 3111 and the second side 3112. The first side 3111 and the second side 3112 are opposite to each other, and the first side 3111 and the second side 3112 are connected to the third side 3110.

The at least one sharp angle 3113 is formed on and protrudes from the first side surface 3111 and/or the second side surface 3112. In a specific embodiment, the sharp corners 3113 of the planar electrode 311 are formed in a saw-tooth shape from a top view. In addition, in the present embodiment, the planar electrode 311 is a porous electrode. However, in another alternative embodiment, the sharp angle 3113 can be formed on the first side 3111, the second side 3112, and the third side 3110.

In the present invention, the sharp corners may be formed by conventional techniques. For example, the sharp corners may be formed by isotropic or anisotropic etching methods.

The shape of the sharp corners may be changed and adjusted depending on the etching method. For example, the intersection angle may be tapered (fig. 4(a)) or pointed (fig. 4 (b)). The acute angle (theta) of the sharp corner may be between 0.01 and 90 deg.. The width (L) of the sharp corner may be between 0.01 and 100 μm.

Examples 3 to 2

Example 3-2 is an alternative to example 3-1, and the same is not repeated here. Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electric pump according to embodiment 3-2. As shown in fig. 5, the electrochemical pump 4 includes a substrate 410 and at least one planar electrode 411.

The substrate 410 has an upper surface 4101. The planar electrode 411 is disposed on the upper surface 4101 of the substrate 410. In addition, in the present embodiment, the planar electrode 411 has a top surface 4110, a first side surface 4111, a second side surface 4112, and at least one sharp corner 4113. The top surface 4110 of the planar electrode 411 is substantially parallel to the top surface 4101 of the substrate 410. First side 4111 is opposite to second side 4112, and first side 4111 and second side 4112 are both connected to top 4110 and substantially perpendicular to top 4101 of substrate 410.

Similar to fig. 3, the sharp corner 4113 is formed on and protrudes from the first side 4111 and the second side 4112. In this embodiment, the planar electrode is a porous electrode. However, when viewed in a cross-sectional side view of the electrochemical pump 4, the sharp corners 4113 of the planar electrode 411 are jagged.

In addition, referring to fig. 3 and 5, in an embodiment not shown, the planar electrode 411 may be a porous electrode; in a specific embodiment, the number of the sharp corners 4113 is greater than 1.

Example 4

Example 4 is similar to examples 1 and 2, and the same points are not repeated here, and the differences are described below. Figure 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electric pump of embodiment 4. As shown in fig. 6, the electrochemical pump 5 includes a substrate 510 and at least one planar electrode 511.

The substrate 510 has an upper surface 5101. The planar electrode 511 is disposed on the upper surface 5101 of the substrate 510. In addition, in the present embodiment, the planar electrode 511 has a top surface 5110, a first side surface 5111, a second side surface 5112, and a bottom surface 5114. The bottom face 5114 is opposite to the top face 5110. The top surface 5110 is substantially parallel to the bottom surface 5114 and the top surface 5101 of the substrate 510. The first side 5111 is opposite to the second side 5112, and the first side 5111 and the second side 5112 are connected to the top 5110 by a sharp corner 5113. In this embodiment, the sharp corner 5113 connects the top surface 5110 and the first/second side surfaces 5111,5112 and has an angle between 0.01 and 90 °. In addition, in the present embodiment, the planar electrode 511 may be a porous electrode.

In addition, the top surface 5110 has a larger area than the bottom surface 5114, and a sharp corner 5113 is formed between the top surface 5110 and the first side surface 5111 and between the top surface 5110 and the second side surface 5112 when viewed in a cross-sectional side view.

In other embodiments, the planar electrode has an inverted trapezoidal shape (not shown).

Example 5

Example 5 is similar to examples 1 and 2, and the same points are not repeated here, and the differences are described below. Figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electric pump of embodiment 5. As shown in fig. 7, the electrochemical pump 6 includes a substrate 610 and at least one planar electrode 611.

The substrate 610 has an upper surface 6101. The planar electrode 611 is disposed on the upper surface 6101 of the substrate 610. In addition, in the embodiment, the planar electrode 611 has a top surface 6110, a first side surface 6111, a second side surface 6112, and at least one sharp corner 6113. The top surface 6110 is substantially parallel to the upper surface 6101 of the substrate 610. The first side 6111 is opposite to the second side 6112, and both the first side 6111 and the second side 6112 are connected to the top 6110.

The sharp corner 6113 is formed on and protrudes from the top surface 6110 when viewed in a side cross-sectional view. In the embodiment, viewed from a side sectional view, each sharp corner 6113 has a cone shape. However, the shape of the sharp corner 6113 is not limited by this embodiment. For example, in other embodiments, the shape of the sharp corner 6113 may be similar to a pointed shape (as shown in fig. 4 (b)).

Example 6

Example 6 is similar to examples 1 and 2, and the same points are not repeated here, and the differences are described below. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the micro delivery device of example 7.

The micro delivery device is a vial appearance and the upper surface of the base plate 110 in example 1 faces the opening into which the conduit 14 is inserted. However, the device of this embodiment has an opening in which the conduit 14 is embedded and which does not face the substrate. In the present embodiment, the opening is disposed in a direction substantially parallel to the substrate 110. In addition, the device of the present embodiment further includes a spacer 13, and the spacer 13 is prepared by a diaphragm (diaphragm) to serve as a barrier.

According to the present invention, the micro-delivery device includes a planar electrode with sharp corners, which provides a fast initial velocity and a larger flow rate than an electrode without sharp corners (i.e., compared to an electrode with a flat surface). As shown in FIG. 9, the micro-delivery device has a flat electrode with sharp corners, providing a faster infusion initiation rate and a larger flow rate. In contrast, flat surface planar electrodes provide only a low infusion initiation rate and a low flow rate. Thus, it can be observed that electrodes with sharp corners can significantly improve the efficiency of drug delivery by the microdelivery device. FIG. 9 further includes a drawing of the electrode surface scanned using a scanning electron microscope, showing sharp corners formed on the electrode surface using an etching process. The sharp corners are distributed on the electrode surface by etching, as viewed from the electrode surface, and the pitch between adjacent sharp corners is about 5 micrometers (μm) or less.

It should be noted that the structure of the planar electrode is not limited to the shape disclosed in the embodiments of fig. 3 to 7. For example, referring to fig. 3 to 7, in some embodiments, the number of the sharp corners is more than one when viewed from a top view, some of the sharp corners are formed on and protrude from the side surface and are formed in a zigzag shape, and some of the sharp corners are formed on and protrude from the top surface when viewed from a cross-sectional view.

For example, referring to fig. 5 to 7, in some embodiments, the number of the sharp corners is more than one, some of the sharp corners are formed on and protrude from the side surface and are formed in a zigzag shape, and some of the sharp corners are formed on and protrude from the top surface when viewed in a cross-sectional view.

For example, referring to fig. 3-6, in some embodiments, the electrode is a porous electrode, the number of sharp corners is greater than one, the sharp corners are formed on and protrude from the side surfaces and are formed in a zigzag shape when viewed from a top view, and the sharp corners are formed between the top surface and the side surfaces when viewed from a cross-sectional view.

For example, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, in some embodiments, the electrode is a porous electrode, the number of sharp corners is greater than one, and a portion of the sharp corners is formed between the top surface and the side surface as viewed in cross-section.

For example, referring to fig. 5, 6, and 7, in some embodiments, the number of the sharp corners is greater than one, a portion of the sharp corners is formed on and protrudes from the side surface and is formed in a zigzag shape when viewed in a cross-sectional view, a portion of the sharp corners is formed between the side surface and the top surface when viewed in a cross-sectional view, and a portion of the sharp corners is formed on and protrudes from the top surface when viewed in a cross-sectional view.

For example, referring to FIGS. 3, 6, and 7, in some embodiments, the number of sharp corners is greater than one, the sharp corners are formed in a zigzag pattern protruding from the side surfaces when viewed from above, the sharp corners are formed between the side surfaces and the top surface when viewed from a cross-sectional view, and the corners are formed in a zigzag pattern protruding from the top surface when viewed from a cross-sectional view.

In some embodiments, such as in fig. 3, the sharp corners 3113 are formed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surface 3101 of the substrate 310.

In other embodiments, such as in fig. 5, the sharp corner 4113 is formed along a direction substantially parallel to the upper surface 4101 of the substrate 410.

In summary, the electrochemical pump and delivery device of the present application includes a planar electrode that includes sharp corners that can generate a dense electric field and cause a large amount of gas generation (similar to Corona discharge in vacuum) to provide better electrolysis efficiency.

In the disclosure of the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the foregoing embodiments are illustrative only and not limiting; those skilled in the art to which the present application pertains may effect numerous variations, substitutions, and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Many variations of the present application are possible in light of the above teachings. The claims presented in this specification define the scope of the application to which this disclosure pertains and to methods and structures described above, as well as inventions equivalent thereto.