Fluid-jet medicament delivery

Abstract

A method of applying an orally-ingestible medicament to an orally-ingestible carrier comprising the steps of controlling a relative position between a fluid ejector and the carrier, and ejecting a plurality of drops of solution onto the carrier, wherein the plurality of drops includes a desired therapeutic quantity of the orally-ingestible medicament.

1 . A method of applying an orally-ingestible medicament to an orally-ingestible carrier, the method comprising: 
 controlling a relative position between a fluid ejector and the carrier; and    ejecting a plurality of drops of solution onto the carrier, wherein the plurality of drops includes a desired therapeutic quantity of the orally-ingestible medicament.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of drops has substantially the same volume as each other drop of the plurality of drops.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of drops has a volume at most 10% different than a volume of each other drop of the plurality of drops.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of drops has a volume at most 6% different than a volume of each other drop of the plurality of drops.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of drops includes substantially equal amounts of orally-ingestible medicament.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of drops has an amount of orally-ingestible medicament at most 10% different than an amount of orally-ingestible medicament of each other drop of the plurality of drops.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of drops has an amount of orally-ingestible medicament at most 6% different than an amount of orally-ingestible medicament of each other drop of the plurality of drops.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein ejecting a plurality of drops includes ejecting a number of drops selected to yield the desired therapeutic quantity of the orally-ingestible medicament.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the desired therapeutic quantity is within a range no more than 1% greater or less than a target dose.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising printing information onto the orally-ingestible sheet.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein printing includes printing the information onto the orally-ingestible sheet in a machine detectable form.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein printing includes printing the information onto the orally-ingestible sheet in a human-perceptible form.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sealing the orally-ingestible medicament on the orally-ingestible sheet.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein sealing includes activating a fluid ejector to eject a barrier component fluid over the orally-ingestible medicament.  
     
     
         15 . An edible dosage form produced by the method of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         16 . A method of applying an orally-ingestible medicament on an orally-ingestible sheet, comprising: 
 advancing the orally-ingestible sheet to a dispense position; and    activating a fluid ejector to eject the orally-ingestible medicament onto the orally-ingestible sheet.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising printing information onto the orally-ingestible sheet.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein printing includes printing the information onto the orally-ingestible sheet in a machine detectable form.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein printing includes printing the information onto the orally-ingestible sheet in a human-perceptible form.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein printing includes ejecting an orally-ingestible ink from at least one ink ejector fluidically coupled to an ink reservoir onto the orally-ingestible sheet.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein activating includes activating the fluid ejector to eject a predetermined number of ejections of the orally-ingestible medicament.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising sealing the orally-ingestible medicament on the orally-ingestible sheet.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein sealing includes activating a barrier fluid ejector to eject a barrier component fluid over the orally-ingestible medicament.  
     
     
         24 . An edible dosage form produced by the method of  claim 16 .  
     
     
         25 . A method of applying an orally-ingestible medicament on an orally-ingestible sheet, comprising: 
 receiving a fluid ejection cartridge into a fluid dispensing system, the cartridge holding a mixture of an orally-ingestible ink and an orally-ingestible medicament;    advancing the orally-ingestible sheet to a dispense position; and    printing a user message on the orally-ingestible sheet using the mixture of the orally-ingestible ink and the orally-ingestible medicament.    
     
     
         26 . An edible dosage form produced by the method of  claim 25 .  
     
     
         27 . A method of manufacturing an orally-ingestible dose, comprising: 
 advancing an orally-ingestible sheet having at least one dosage region to a dispense position; and    activating a fluid ejector to eject a two-dimensional array of an orally-ingestible medicament onto the dosage region of the orally-ingestible sheet, wherein the dosage region includes a first edge and a second edge, and wherein a density of the two-dimensional array of the orally-ingestible medicament varies between the first edge and the second edge, forming a two-dimensional gradient of orally-ingestible medicament.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising coating a deposited array of ingestible medicament with an ingestible coating material.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein coating the deposited array includes activating a second fluid ejector to eject an ingestible barrier component fluid over the deposited array of ingestible medicament.  
     
     
         30 . An edible dosage form produced by the method of  claim 27 .  
     
     
         31 . A method of manufacturing an orally-ingestible dosage form, comprising: 
 advancing an orally-ingestible sheet having at least one dosage region to a dispense position;    activating a fluid ejector to eject a first two-dimensional array of an orally-ingestible medicament onto the dosage region of the orally-ingestible sheet;    dispensing an orally-ingestible barrier layer on the first two-dimensional array of orally-ingestible medicament; and    activating the fluid ejector to eject a second two-dimensional array of orally-ingestible medicament on the orally-ingestible barrier layer, thus forming a three-dimensional array of orally-ingestible medicament on the orally-ingestible sheet.    
     
     
         32 . An edible dosage form produced by the method of  claim 31.