JPH0345272A - Ion phoresis device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate transportation by reducing the dimension of a device by using the ac voltage having a prescribed frequency as the voltage applied between the electrodes. CONSTITUTION:Introducing electrodes 2 and 3 are arranged, keeping a prescribed interval, onto the both sides in the longitudinal direction of a supporting plate 1 consisting of a rectangular flexible insulating body, and an electric circuit part 4 is arranged at the center part. The electric circuit part 4 supplies the ac voltage having a prescribed frequency into the introducing electrodes 2 and 3. When the introducing electrodes 2 and 3 are set so as to be closely attached onto the skin at a prescribed position of a human body, and a switch 42 is turned ON, a sine wave transmission circuit 43 operates to apply each sine wave ac voltage onto the introducing electrodes 2 and 3. Then, the electric current corresponding to the pertinent voltage flows between the introducing electrodes 2 and 3, and the medicine contained in the electric.-conductive gel layers 22 and 32 of the introducing electrodes 2 and 3 permeates under the skin according to the electric current. Since the permeation of the medicine is strongly related to the flowing electric current, a small sized device which can use a portable small sized battery as power source can be realized by applying the high frequency ac voltage in 1,000Hz or more.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] “Industrial Application Field” The present invention is being intensively researched in the medical field [)
[) 3 (drug delivery system
As a means of m), the present invention relates to an iontophoresis device used for transdermal drug administration using the principle of iontophoresis.

[Prior art and its problems] As is well known, iontophoresis is a method of percutaneously and painlessly administering drugs using a weak direct current. The driving force is an electric field, or Coulomb force.

By the way, the stratum corneum that constitutes the outermost layer of the skin has the property of being an electrical insulator, so when a DC electric field is applied, the insulator undergoes induced polarization. Therefore, as is well known, the electrical equivalent circuit of the skin is expressed by a parallel combination circuit of capacitance (C) and resistance (R).

Therefore, when a DC electric field is applied to the skin, a charging current flows transiently to the capacitance, but since the resistance value of the resistor is quite large, almost no current flows steadily.

For this reason, iontophoresis using a DC electric field has a problem in that the efficiency of drug penetration is extremely poor because no current, which is the driving force, flows. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60i56475 discloses a method for solving this problem.

JP-A-60-188176, JP-A-61-. 31
Publication No. 169, etc. describes a switch mechanism that outputs a therapeutic pulse between the electrodes and short-circuits the two electrodes, a seki conductor and an insensible conductor, during the pulse pause period, and a switch mechanism that applies a pulse of opposite polarity between the two electrodes. A method is disclosed in which a mechanism for depolarization is provided.

However, this method requires a depolarization mechanism and a synchronization mechanism for operating the mechanism during the rest period, resulting in an increase in the size of the device.

On the other hand, in actual use such as administering insulin to diabetic patients, it is desired that the device be miniaturized to the size of a wristwatch or armband for easy carrying, thereby eliminating the inconvenience in patients' daily life and work.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention was made as a result of research to solve such problems, and its purpose is to provide a device for iontophoresis that is small and can efficiently flow the current necessary for iontophoresis. That is.

[Construction 9 of the invention] The above objects are achieved by the invention as follows.

That is, the present invention provides an ion pharesis device in which a voltage is applied between electrodes, at least one of which contains a drug, to cause the drug to penetrate, wherein the voltage is an alternating current voltage with a predetermined frequency. It is a device for tophoresis.

As mentioned above, unlike conventional DC voltage or directional pulses, the present invention applies AC voltage in both directions, so that the polarized charge on the skin is automatically discharged in a half cycle of reversal, and the current required for drug penetration is sufficient. can be passed to. It is thought that the reason why the drug permeates due to alternating current voltage is due to the irreversibility of the permeation phenomenon.

As described above, in the present invention, since the polarized charges are automatically discharged, there is no need for special depolarization means as in the conventional example, and a small and inexpensive device can be realized.

3- In particular, by using both electrodes as introduction electrodes containing a drug, the drug is infiltrated from both electrodes, so the required electrode area is larger compared to the conventional case of injecting only from one electrode. It can be made smaller, and the size can be made that much smaller.

In addition, the frequency of the alternating current voltage is several meters, which is said to be necessary for iontophoresis, and the electrodes can be supplied from a small power source such as a dry battery.

A frequency of 2 or more is preferable, and a high frequency of 5,000 torr or more at which the impedance of the skin is 1 to Ω or less is more preferable.

The waveforms are sine waves and square waves.

- All angle waves etc. can be applied and are not particularly limited.

The present invention will be explained below based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the entire embodiment, FIG. 2 is a bottom view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electric circuit configuration thereof.

This example is an integrated type example that is convenient for carrying.Introducing electrodes 2.3 are arranged at a predetermined interval on both sides of the support plate 1 made of a rectangular flexible insulator in the longitudinal direction. It has a configuration in which an electric circuit section 4 is arranged at the top. The introduction electrodes 2 and 3 have a known structure in which a film-like conductive gel layer 22.32 containing an ionic drug is laminated on a metal electrode 21.31 made of gold, aluminum, or the like. The introduction electrodes 2 and 3 are as described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-1.
Since known methods such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 56475 and other commercially available products can be applied, detailed explanation thereof will be omitted. Further, in this example, both electrodes are used as introducing electrodes containing a drug for small size, but the other electrode may be used as a mere conductive electrode that does not contain a drug.

The electric circuit section 4 is constructed as shown in FIG. 3 so as to supply an alternating current voltage of a predetermined frequency to the introduction electrodes 2 and 3. That is, in the figure, J3 indicates a power source 41 consisting of a small battery such as a watch battery, 42 a power on/off switch, 43 a sine wave oscillation circuit, and 44 a current limiting resistor for safety. 5 in the figure is a predetermined part of the human body, such as an arm.

In the above configuration, when the introduction electrodes 2 and 3 are set so as to be in close contact with the skin of a predetermined part of the human body and the switch 42 is turned on, the sine wave transmitting circuit 43 is operated. A wave alternating current voltage is applied. A current corresponding to the voltage flows between the introducing electrodes 2 and 3,
The conductive gel layer 22.2 of the introduction electrodes 2, 3 depending on the current
The drug contained in step 3 penetrates under the skin. Therefore, by selecting a drug suitable for the therapeutic purpose, it can be used for various treatments.

By the way, in iontophoresis, it is known that the penetration of the drug has a strong correlation with the flowing current, and as confirmation test 1~, take the above example to the arm of a human body, use the drug, and vomit. The flowing current was measured by changing the frequency. As a result, the voltage is as low as 3V, and the frequency is 100.
Approximately 1mA at 0Hz.

Approximately 4.0 at frequency 5Kl-IZ. mA, approximately 6mA at 10KHz.

It was about 13 mA at +-12 to 100. Note that the current limiting resistance at this time was 100Ω.

From this, it was confirmed that by applying a high-frequency AC voltage of 10001-12 or more, it was possible to realize a small-sized iontophoresis device that was powered by a small battery and was portable.

Although the present invention has been described above based on Examples, it is clear from the gist of the present invention that the present invention is not limited to such Examples, such as the shape of the device and the structure of the electric circuit.

As described above, the present invention is characterized by infiltrating a drug using a bidirectional alternating current voltage, which is different from the conventional one-way voltage. This will greatly contribute to expanding the scope of application.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a bottom view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the electric circuit section thereof. . 1: Support plate, 2, 3: Introducing electrode. 4: Electric circuit section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an iontophoresis device in which a voltage is applied between electrodes, at least one of which contains a drug, to cause the drug to permeate, the voltage is an alternating current voltage with a predetermined frequency. Features of iontophoresis device. 2. The iontophoresis device according to claim 1, wherein the AC voltage is a high frequency AC voltage of 1000 Hz or more. 3. Claim 1, wherein both electrodes are introduction electrodes containing a drug.
The iontophoresis device according to item 1 or 2.