Claims
- 1. A self-contained delivery device for delivery a selected volume of stored electrolyte solution at selected time intervals, comprising
a housing having a delivery port, contained within said housing, a chamber containing an upstream supply reservoir for holding a quantity of electrolyte solution, a downstream delivery reservoir for receiving electrolyte solution from the supply reservoir and, disposed between the two reservoirs, a membrane having a plurality of flow-through channels extending between the two reservoirs, where said channels has a minimum cross-sectional dimension between 2 and 100 nm and a net surface charge at the pH of the electrolyte solution, a pair of electrodes placed in said chamber on either side of said membrane, a one-way valve connecting the delivery reservoir to the delivery port within said housing, allowing solution to flow out of the delivery port only, and a controller contained within said housing, including (i) a power source operatively connected to said electrodes for applying across the electrodes, a voltage potential effective to pump electrolyte solution from the supply to delivery reservoir, at a selecting pumping rate, and (ii) a timer for controlling the duration and timing of application of the voltage potential to the electrodes, to pump a selected volume of solution through said membrane, at selected time intervals.
- 2. The device of claim 1, wherein said housing is adapted for implantation at a body site, and said solution contains a therapeutic drug for delivery at said site.
- 3. The device of claim 1, wherein said voltage potential is less than 5 volts.
- 4. The device of claim 1, wherein said channels have a substantially uniform minimum dimension along their lengths.
- 5. The device of claim 4, wherein said channels have a minimum dimension in a selected range between about 2 and 30 nm.
- 6. The device of claim 4, wherein said timer is designed to apply across said electrodes, a pulsed voltage whose duration is effective to pump a selected volume of supply solution across said membrane.
- 7. The device of claim 1, wherein said membrane is formed of a material selected from the group consisting of silicon, polysilicon, polymers, and titanium.
- 8. A device for detecting a target nucleic acid sequence contained in a solution of solution of nucleic acid fragments and having a selected pH, comprising
a chamber, a membrane disposed in said chamber and having a channel extending between an upstream chamber region adapted to hold the electrolyte solution of such different-length fragments, and a downstream chamber region adapted to hold an electrolyte solution, where said channel has a selected minimum cross-sectional dimension in the range between 2 and 100 nm and a net surface charge within a given pH range that includes the selected solution pH, attached to a wall portion of the channel, a capture nucleic acid having a sequence complementary to the target sequence, upstream and downstream electrodes disposed in said upstream and downstream chamber regions, respectively, for contacting solution placed in the corresponding chamber regions, a controller including a power source operatively connected to said electrodes for applying a selected voltage potential across said channel, to move individual nucleic acid sequences contained in the solution through said channel, where said sequences can hybridize to complementary target sequences bound to the channel wall portion.
- 9. The device of claim 8, wherein said controller further includes a voltage regulator for regulating the voltage applied across said channel, to effect selective release of the target sequence from the capture nucleic acid, based on the degree of complementarity between the target sequences and the capture nucleic acid.
- 10. The device of claim 8, wherein said membrane includes an array of channels, each having attached to a wall portion thereof, a capture nucleic acid with a selected sequence complementary to a selected one of a plurality of different sequences.
- 11. The device of claim 10, wherein one of said electrodes includes a plurality of electrode elements, each associated with one of said membrane channels, and said controller is operatively connected to each of said electrode elements to apply and regulate the voltage applied across each of the channels.
- 12. The device of claim 8, wherein said controller is effective to place across the electrodes, a voltage potential effective to move nucleic acid fragments electrophoretically through said channel.
- 13. The device of claim 8, wherein said channel has a minimum dimension in the 2-25 nm range.
- 14. A method for detecting a target nucleic acid sequence contained in an electrolyte solution of nucleic acid fragments and having a selected pH, comprising
placing the solution in a chamber having a membrane disposed therein, said membrane having a channel extending between an upstream chamber region adapted to hold the electrolyte solution of such different-length fragments, and a downstream chamber region adapted to hold an electrolyte solution, where said channel (i) has a selected minimum cross-sectional dimension in the range between 2 and 100 nm, (ii) a net surface charge within a given pH range that includes the selected solution pH, and (iii), attached to a wall portion of the channel, a capture nucleic acid having a sequence complementary to the target sequence, applying across the channel, a voltage potential sufficient to move nucleic acid sequences in said solution through said channel, where said sequences can hybridize to complementary target sequences bound to the channel wall portion, releasing captured target sequence from said channel by applying a voltage potential across said channel effect to dissociate hybridized nucleic acids, and detecting released target sequences.
- 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said releasing includes applying a voltage across said channel effective to selectively release target sequences from the capture nucleic acid, based on the degree of complementarity between the target sequence and the capture nucleic acid.
- 16. The method of claim 14, wherein said membrane includes an array of channels, each having attached to a wall portion thereof, a capture nucleic acid with a selected sequence complementary to a selected one of a plurality of different sequences.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein one of said electrodes includes a plurality of electrode elements, each associated with one of said membrane channels, said controller is operatively connected to each of said electrode elements to apply and regulate the voltage applied across each of the channels, and said releasing includes applying a voltage across each of said channels, individually, a voltage potential effective to selectively release target sequences from the capture nucleic acid, based on the degree of complementarity between the target sequence and the capture nucleic acid.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/298,733 entitled “Nanopump Delivery Device and Method” filed on Jun. 15, 2001; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/298,450 entitled “Nanopump Device for Detecting DNA Sequences” filed on Jun. 15, 2001, the disclosures of which are incorporated as if fully rewritten herein.
Provisional Applications (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60298733 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
|
60298450 |
Jun 2001 |
US |