Patent ID: 8936629
Filing Date: 2015-01-20
Classification: A61B,A61N

Abstract:
1. A method for treating or ameliorating a pathogenic condition associated with at least one of Enterococcus faecalis, Bacteroides vulgatis, Serratia marcescens, Propinibacterium acnes, Bifidobacterium, Actinomyces, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Vibrio cholera, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, shigella, Helicobacter pylori , rotovirus, Calicivirus, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, Cryptosporidium , neoplastic cells, or cancerous cells, the method comprising: providing to the digestive tract of the subject an untethered ingestible mass having a core; passing cells through the core of the untethered ingestible mass; emitting electromagnetic energy from a first optical energy source in the untethered ingestible mass in a manner selected to induce fluorescence in some of the cells; identifying target cells by analyzing the fluorescence with control circuitry located in the untethered ingestible mass, wherein the target cells are associated with the pathogenic condition; aligning a second optical energy source with the first optical energy source; and emitting variable directional electromagnetic energy at the target cells from the second optical energy source in the untethered ingestible mass in a manner selected to induce photodynamic cell death in some of the target cells.