Patent ID: 6678553
Filing Date: 2004-01-13
Classification: A61K,A61M,A61N

Abstract:
An apparatus to enhance delivery of at least one delivery substance into the central nervous system of a mammal, utilizing the olfactory pathway(s) as a direct delivery route for the substance from an exogeneous source via the mammal's olfactory area to a target site of the mammal's central nervous system, bypassing the mammal's blood brain barrier comprising:a tube-shaped or frusto-conical shaped first electrode sized to be located in the olfactory area of the mammal wherein the distal tip or top area of the tube-shaped or frusto-conical shaped first electrode carries a biological substance in a container, said first electrode being an active electrode constructed and arranged, shaped and sized to be non-invasively positioned in the olfactory area of the mammal at least as far as the superior nasal turbinate and having at least one perforation therein; second electrode being a passive electrode and being constructed and arranged to be positioned on or in proximity to the head of a mammal in one or more locations, but non-invasively of the mammal, and said first and second electrodes constructed and arranged for cooperation with an energy source to establish a radiant energy gradient across at least a portion of the mammal's central nervous system; and an energy source for providing a potential gradient between said first and second electrodes so that iontophoretic delivery of the delivery substance is accomplished in a direction from said active electrode directly into one or more target sites of a mammal's central nervous system via the olfactory pathway(s) essentially bypassing the vascular system of the mammal wherein the energy source comprises an internal electrical circuit to hold a supply of energy in a rest position, prior to delivery of said at least one delivery substance, and, when said first and second electrodes are positioned in a delivery position, said internal electrical circuit activates said electrodes upon application of said electrodes to said mammal.