Patent ID: 7363074
Filing Date: 2008-04-22
Classification: A61K,A61N

Abstract:
1. A method for local delivery of a drug, comprising acts of: (a) implanting a medical device carrying a drug-containing coating in a patient for the sustained local delivery of the drug, wherein the coating comprises a polymeric reservoir layer disposed on at least a portion of the device, and a layer of a self-assembled structure of molecules of an organic or elemento-organic substance bonded to the reservoir layer; and (b) applying an electric current for an interval of time to the device to cause the self-assembled structure of molecules to transform from a crystalline structure to an amorphous structure so as to increase for increasing the rate of release of the drug, wherein after the electric current is terminated, the crystallinity of the self-assembled structure of molecules returns back to essentially the same degree of crystallinity or a more crystalline structure than that of when the self-assembled structure of molecules was exposed to the current, wherein the self-assembled molecular structure is prepared from a compound comprising a methylene chain having between 10 and 25 carbon atoms.