Patent Publication Number: US-2006009821-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for providing light to blood

Description:
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/926209 filed Aug. 25, 2004 that claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/503,678 filed Sep. 17, 2003. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing light to blood.  
      2. Background of the Prior Art  
      Ultraviolet (UV) light can be used to treat a multitude of medical problems, including for example bacterial, viral and fungal infections, poisoning, fatigue, Alzheimer&#39;s disease, allergies and asthma, rheumatic diseases and arthritis, diabetes, hepatitis, and cancer. UV light sterilizes the blood and acts as an antibiotic.  
      The UV light is applied either to the patient&#39;s skin or directly to the blood. If the UV light is applied to the skin it is typically provided to the patient&#39;s skin either with a wrap or lamp.  
      UV light is commonly used to treat jaundiced babies. Because infant&#39;s skin Is thin and the blood vessels are close to the surface, UV light is typical applied to the skin when treating jaundiced babies.  
      Applying the UV light directly to a patient&#39;s blood supply is known as photoluminescence or UV blood illumination (UBI). UV blood illumination increases oxygen, destroys toxins and boosts the immune system.  
      In prior art UBI, a small amount of blood is drawn from the patient, up to about 250 cc. The body has about 5.6 L of blood. The blood that is drawn travels through a cuvette or glass chamber. The blood is repeatedly illuminated with UV light and then returned to the body. The process is repeated, typically a day or several days later. These treatments are time consuming, and require regular trips to a medical facility. In addition, trained personal must be available to provide the treatments.  
      There is a need for a method of providing UV light to a patient&#39;s entire blood supply, not just a small portion of it. There is a need for a system that is convenient for the patient, which does not require regular doctor visits. There is a need for a simple system that can be used by the patient in his home.  
      There is a need for a system that allows for round the clock treatments or other regular treatments such as pulsed treatment or automatic periodic treatments.  
      There is a need for a blood illuminator that reduces the risk of infection from removing blood. There is a need for a system that reduces the number of needle sticks a patient must endure.  
      There is a need for a system that allows the blood to be treated on an as needed basis, such as based on how the patient is feeling at a particular time.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention is a UV device or a portable UV pack that connects to a port in the patient&#39;s artery. A port is surgically implanted in the patient. The UV pack or device is connectable to the port.  
      The UV pack has a battery or other power supply and a light source that emits light at a therapeutic wavelength or wavelengths. The UV light source preferably emit UV light at a therapeutic wavelength such as UV-A or UV-C. The UV pack or device is connected to the port via a catheter inserted into the port or a direct connection to a connecting element on the port. Fiber optic strand run through a tube to provide the UV light to the blood. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a portable UV pack;  
       FIG. 2  is a patient with a connectable UV pack;  
       FIG. 3  is a cross section of a UV device;  
       FIG. 4   a  is a UV catheter for use with a UV pack or with a UV device;  
       FIG. 4   b  is a cross section of the UV catheter for use with a UV pack or with a UV device;  
       FIG. 5  is a fiber-optic light guide for use with a UV pack or with a UV device; and  
       FIGS. 6   a - 6   e  are various embodiments of the UV light bulb for with the UV pack or with the UV device. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Light at a therapeutic wavelength or wavelengths is used to treat many diseases including infections, poisoning, fatigue, allergies, hepatitis, cancer and HIV. UV light increases the oxygen combining power of the blood, destroys toxins, viruses, fungi, bacteria, and boosts the immune system. UV light also sterilizes the blood and acts as an antibiotic. Preferably, UV light at a therapeutic wavelength(s) is used. More preferably the light is either UV-A or UV-C light is utilized in the present invention. For some conditions and/or diseases UV-A light is more effective than UV-C and for other conditions and/or diseases UV-C light is more effective than UV-A light. The wavelgths or wavelengths of light to be used to treat the patient are selected based on the wavelength or wavelength that will best treat the condition or disease of the patient.  
      The invention is a UV device  40  and a portable UV pack  20  that are connectable to a patient  10  via a port  12  to directly supply UV light to the patient&#39;s blood supply  14 . Port  12  is surgically implanted in patient  10 . Ports and catheters are well known in the art. They are for cancer patients receiving regular or continuous chemotherapy, diabetics and others. Alternatively, UV pack  20  could be surgically implanted under the patient&#39;s skin. In yet another alternative, a portion of UV pack  20  such as a portion of light guide  22  can be implanted in patient  10 .  
      Portable UV pack  20  comprises housing  24 , battery or other power source (not shown) and therapeutic light source (not shown). Preferably, the therapeutic light source is a UV light source. The UV light source may be LEDs (not shown) emitting UV light at a therapeutic wavelength. More preferably, the UV light is UV-C light and ranges from 190 nm-100 nm. Alternatively, a plurality of LEDs, having one or more different wavelengths of UV light could be used such as UV-A. It is preferable that a substantial portion of the emitted light be UV-C or UV-C or a combination thereof.  
      In one embodiment, UV pack  20  has a light guide  22  made of rubber or other flexible tubing for housing one or more fiber optic strands  26 . Alternatively, a liquid core light guide or other known light guide can be used. Emitted UV radiation travels to the end tip of the light guide  22  and is emitted. Emitted radiation directly illuminates patient&#39;s blood. Light guide  22  has transparent cover  28  at the end connectable to or insertable in the patient.  
      Light guide  22  has a connector  30  for coupling UV pack  20  to port  12  or catheter in the patient. Catheter may be inserted into port  12  or there may be connector  30  on one end of the flexible tube that mates with a connector on port  12 .  
      In an alternative embodiment, light source such as a LED, or miniature light bulb is inserted through port  12  and directly illuminates the blood.  
      The UV pack  20  allows UV light to be supplied directly to the blood. Instead of treating only a maximum of 250 cc of blood, larger amounts of blood or even the entire blood supply can be treated. The 5.6 L of blood in a human body circulates through the body about 3 times every minute. Thus, large amounts of blood can be treated with photoluminescence.  
      Patient  10  can connect to UV pack  20  when a treatment is needed. Alternatively, UV pack  20  can remain connected to port  12  and be turned on only for treatment. UV pack  20  could be turned on and off manually. Alternatively, UV pack  20  could automatically turn off the light source after a set treatment time, such as  20  minutes. UV pack  20  could have a controller such as a computer or other smart interface that limits the number of treatments given time period, limits the total amount of treatment time in a given time period, automatically provides treatments, pulses the light source, or provides only particular wavelengths. The computer or other smart interface could keep a treatment record. The computer or other smart interface could communicate wirelessly, via the Internet or through other electronic means to automatically update the doctor&#39;s treatment records. Computer preferably can automatically adjust treatment time, wavelength or other factors based on patient input, doctor orders or other data.  
      In an alternative embodiment, UV pack  20  or a portion of UV pack  20 , such as an end of light guide  22  is surgically attached to patient  10  or implanted in patient  10 .  
      UV device  40  can be attached to patient  10  via port  12  to directly illuminate the blood. UV device  40  comprises housing  44 , light guide  42 , and UV light source  54 . Preferably, UV light source  54  is a medical grade UV light bulb. UV light source  54  preferably emits light in the UV-C range. Housing  44  preferably has a weighted base  56 . There are preferably electronics  52  such as a power supply or power cord for connection to a power source. UV device preferably has a manual on/off switch  58 . Electronics  52  also preferably include a controller, a timer or smart interface such as a computer.  
      Catheter  60  with light guide  42  is inserted into port  12  to directly illuminate the blood. Light guide  42  may have connector  50  that mates with a connecter on port  12 . Light guide  42  may be one or more fiber optic strands in a flexible tube. Alternatively, light guide  42  may be a liquid core light guide  46  or other known light guide. In yet another alternative, UV light source is a LED or small light bulb at the end of a flexible tube adapted to be inserted through port  12  to directly illuminate the blood.  
      UV device  40  allows UV light to be supplied directly to the blood. Instead of treating only a maximum of 250 cc of blood, larger amounts of blood or even the entire blood supply can be treated. The 5.6 L of blood in a human body circulates through the body about 3 times every minute. Thus, large amounts of blood can be treated with photoluminescence.  
      Patient  10  can connect to the UV device  40  when a treatment is needed. The UV device  40  could be turned on and off manually. Alternatively, UV device  40  could automatically turn off the light source after a set treatment time, such as 20 minutes. UV device  40  could have a controller, computer or other smart interface that limits the number of treatments given time period, limits the total amount of treatment time in a given time period, automatically provides treatments, pulses the LEDs, or provides only particular wavelengths if the UV pack has LEDs of various wavelengths. The computer or other smart interface could keep a treatment record. The computer or other smart interface could communicate wirelessly, via the Internet or through other electronic means to automatically update the doctor&#39;s treatment records. The computer could automatically adjust the treatment time based on input from the patient, the doctor, treatment records, or other data.