The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 02, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 31, 1998
Pei Zhong, Durham, NC (US);
Franklin H. Cocks, Durham, NC (US);
Glenn M. Preminger, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Haifan Lin, Durham, NC (US);
Duke University, Durham, NC (US);
Abstract
This invention discloses an apparatus and method for producing microcavitational activity in aqueous fluids for non-invasive macromolecule delivery into living cells. A standard electrohydraulic shock wave lithotripter is fitted with an adjustable ring reflector that shares the same foci as the standard lithotripter hemi-ellipsoidal reflector. A small portion of the spherical shock wave, generated by the spark discharge at the first focus (F,), is reflected and diffracted by the ring reflector, resulting in a weak preceding shock wave approximately 8.5 &mgr;s in front of the lithotripter shock wave reflected and diffracted by the hemi-ellipsoidal reflector. The peak negative pressure of the preceding weak shock wave or pulse at F,can be adjusted from −0.96 to −1.91 MPa, using an output voltage of 25 kV. Living cells are exposed to the preceding shock wave and the lithotripter shock wave. With optimal pulse combination, the maximum efficiency of shock wave-induced cell membrane permeabilization can be enhanced substantially (up to 91%), by applying to the living cells a low dosage of, for example, 50 shocks. In addition, injury to mouse lymphoid cells is significantly increased at high dosage (up to 50% with shock number >100). The invention thus enables shock wave-inertial microbubble interaction to be used selectively to either enhance the efficiency of shock wave-mediated macromolecule delivery at low dosage or tissue destruction at high dosage.