Substance delivery system

Abstract

Embodiments of a system including a remotely controlled substance delivery device and associated controller are described. Methods of use and control of the device are also disclosed. According to some embodiments, a delivery device or related device may be placed in an environment in order to pump a material into the environment or into an additional fluid handling structure within the device. Exemplary environments include a body of an organism, a body of water, or an enclosed volume of a fluid. The concentration of a substance in the fluid to be delivered may be modified by a remote control signal. In selected embodiments, a magnetic field, an electric field, or electromagnetic control signal may be used.

1 .- 56 . (canceled) 
     
     
         57 . A delivery system, comprising:
 a delivery device including:
 a body structure; 
 a delivery reservoir adapted to contain a delivery fluid and having at least one outlet through which the delivery fluid may exit the delivery reservoir; 
 an electromagnetically responsive control element located in the wall of the delivery reservoir and activatable by a wireless electromagnetic control signal to modify a distribution of a primary material within the delivery reservoir between a first active form carried in the delivery fluid and a second form to modify an effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid within the delivery reservoir, the effective concentration being the concentration of the first active form in the delivery fluid; and 
   a remote controller including:
 an electromagnetic signal generator capable of producing an electromagnetic control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element of the delivery device to change the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid within the delivery reservoir of the delivery device; and 
 an electromagnetic signal transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting the electromagnetic control signal to the electromagnetically responsive control element of the delivery device in the environment. 
   
     
     
         58 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by a static or quasi-static electrical field control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured to generate a static or quasi-static electrical field control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         59 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by a static or quasi-static magnetic field control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured generate a static or quasi-static magnetic field control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         60 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by a radio-frequency electromagnetic control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured to generate a radio-frequency electromagnetic control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         61 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by a microwave electromagnetic control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured to generate a microwave electromagnetic control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         62 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by an infrared electromagnetic control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured to generate an infrared electromagnetic control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         63 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by a millimeter wave electromagnetic control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured to generate a millimeter wave electromagnetic control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         64 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by an optical electromagnetic control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured to generate an optical electromagnetic control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         65 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is activatable by an unltraviolet electromagnetic control signal, and wherein the remote controller is configured to generate an ultraviolet electromagnetic control signal sufficient to activate the electromagnetically responsive control element to control the effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         66 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the delivery device includes a pump adapted for pumping the delivery fluid from the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         67 . The delivery system of  claim 66 , wherein the remote controller is adapted to transmit an electromagnetic delivery control signal to a receiving element in the pump to control pumping of delivery fluid from the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         68 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , further comprising a sensor for detecting a quantity or concentration of the primary material within the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         69 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , further comprising a sensor for detecting a concentration or activity of a chemical in a least a portion of the environment surrounding the reaction device. 
     
     
         70 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the remote controller includes authentication hardware or software configured to perform an authentication procedure with the delivery device, and wherein the remote controller is configured to produce activation of the electromagnetically responsive control element of an authenticated delivery device but not a non-authenticated delivery device. 
     
     
         71 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the delivery device includes an RFID, and wherein the remote controller includes an RFID interrogation signal generator for generating an RF interrogation signal, an RFID interrogation signal receiver for receiving a returned RFID interrogation signal, and RFID detection circuitry configured to detect the presence of the RFID included in the delivery device from the returned RFID interrogation signal. 
     
     
         72 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , comprising two or more delivery devices, and wherein the remote controller includes:
 a plurality of transmission channels;   channel allocation hardware of software configured to allocate usage of the plurality of transmission channels for the transmission of the electromagnetic control signal to selected delivery devices of the two or more delivery devices.   
     
     
         73 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the remote controller includes hardware, software, or firmware configured to perform encryption of the electromagnetic control signal to produce an encrypted electromagnetic control signal, and wherein the delivery device includes a corresponding decryption key. 
     
     
         74 . The delivery system of  claim 57 , wherein the delivery device includes an interaction region located within the delivery reservoir on or adjacent to the electromagnetically responsive control element, the interaction region including a plurality of interaction sites capable of interacting with the primary material. 
     
     
         75 . The delivery system of  claim 74 , wherein the interaction sites are capable of binding the primary material. 
     
     
         76 . The delivery system of  claim 74 , wherein the interaction sites are capable of reacting with the primary material. 
     
     
         77 . The delivery system of  claim 74 , wherein the interaction sites are capable of forming a complex with the primary material. 
     
     
         78 . A delivery device comprising:
 a body structure adapted for positioning in an environment;   a delivery reservoir within the body structure adapted to contain a delivery fluid and having at least one outlet through which the delivery fluid may exit the delivery reservoir;   an electromagnetically responsive control element located in the wall of the delivery reservoir and activatable by a wireless electromagnetic control signal to modify a distribution of a primary material within the delivery reservoir between a first active form carried in the delivery fluid and a second form to modify an effective concentration of the primary material in the delivery fluid within the delivery reservoir, the effective concentration being the concentration of the first active form in the delivery fluid.   
     
     
         79 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element includes a heating element. 
     
     
         80 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element includes a cooling element. 
     
     
         81 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element includes an expanding or contracting structure. 
     
     
         82 . The delivery device of  claim 81 , wherein the delivery device is configured so that expansion or contraction of the expanding or contracting structure modifies the volume of the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         83 . The delivery device of  claim 81 , wherein the delivery device is configured so that expansion or contraction of the expanding or contracting structure exposes one or more molecular structures to the delivery fluid. 
     
     
         84 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is responsive to the electromagnetic control signal by at least one of heating, cooling, vibrating, expanding, stretching, unfolding, contracting, deforming, softening, or folding globally or locally. 
     
     
         85 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is configured to selectively respond to an electromagnetic field having a specific frequency and orientation. 
     
     
         86 . The delivery device of  claim 85 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element has a frequency selectivity determined by the size of the electromagnetically responsive control element. 
     
     
         87 . The delivery device of  claim 85 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element has a directional selectivity determined by the configuration and orientation of the electromagnetically responsive control element. 
     
     
         88 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element includes a magnetically or electrically active material including at least one permanently magnetizable material, ferromagnetic material, ferrimagnetic material, ferrous material, ferric material, dielectric material, ferroelectric material, piezoelectric material, diamagnetic material, paramagnetic material, metallic material, or antiferromagnetic material. 
     
     
         89 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element includes a polymer, ceramic, dielectric, or metal. 
     
     
         90 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element includes a shape memory material. 
     
     
         91 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element includes a polymer and a magnetically or electrically active component. 
     
     
         92 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , further comprising:
 an interaction region located within the delivery reservoir on or adjacent to the electromagnetically responsive control element, the interaction region including a plurality of interaction sites capable of interacting with the primary material.   
     
     
         93 . The delivery device of  claim 92 , wherein the interaction sites are capable of binding the primary material. 
     
     
         94 . The delivery system of  claim 92 , wherein the interaction sites are capable of binding the primary material. 
     
     
         95 . The delivery system of  claim 92 , wherein the interaction sites are capable of reacting with the primary material. 
     
     
         96 . The delivery system of  claim 92 , wherein the interaction sites are capable of forming a complex with the primary material. 
     
     
         97 . The delivery device of  claim 92 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is adapted to modify the affinity of at least one interaction site for the primary material by modifying at least one of the temperature, charge, polarity, osmolality, surface energy, orientation, conformation, chemical activity or chemical composition of the at least one interaction site or its vicinity. 
     
     
         98 . The delivery system of  claim 92 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is responsive to the electromagnetic control signal by changing in at least one dimension, and wherein a dimension of the interaction region is modifiable by the change in dimension of electromagnetically responsive control element. 
     
     
         99 . The delivery system of  claim 98 , wherein modification in the dimension of the interaction region changes a distance between the interaction sites. 
     
     
         100 . The delivery system of  claim 98 , wherein modification in the dimension of the interaction region exposes additional portions of the interaction region. 
     
     
         101 . The delivery system of  claim 98 , wherein modification in the dimension of the interaction region exposes additional functional groups. 
     
     
         102 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , further comprising a sensor for detecting a quantity or concentration of the primary material within the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         103 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , further comprising a sensor for detecting a concentration or activity of a chemical in a least a portion of the environment surrounding the reaction device. 
     
     
         104 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , further comprising a downstream fluid handling structure in fluid communication with the delivery reservoir and configured to receive delivery fluid from the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         105 . The delivery device of  claim 104 , wherein the downstream fluid handling structure includes one or more channels, chambers, splitters, valves, mixers, splitters, accumulators, pulse-flow generators, or surge-suppressors. 
     
     
         106 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , further comprising an RFID. 
     
     
         107 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the body structure includes tethers or gripping structures for positioning the delivery device in a desired location in the environment. 
     
     
         108 . The delivery device of  claim 78 , wherein the body structure includes at least one of surface chemistry, size, or shape features that cause the delivery device to be targeted or localized to a specific location in the environment. 
     
     
         109 . The delivery device of  claim 108 , wherein the at least one of surface chemistry, size, or shape features includes a tissue-specific marker or targeting molecule. 
     
     
         110 . The delivery device of  claim 109 , wherein the tissue-specific marker or targeting molecule is a tissue specific endothelial protein. 
     
     
         111 . A delivery device comprising:
 a body structure adapted for positioning in an environment;   a delivery reservoir within the body structure adapted to contain a delivery fluid and having at least one outlet through which the delivery fluid may exit the delivery reservoir;   an electromagnetically responsive control element capable of changing between a first state and a second state, the electromagnetically responsive control element activatable by a wireless electromagnetic control signal to change between the first state and the second state, wherein in the first state the electromagnetically responsive control element causes a primary material within the delivery reservoir to be in a first active form and wherein in the second state the electromagnetically responsive control element causes primary material within the delivery reservoir to be in a second inactive form; and   a pump adapted for pumping delivery fluid from the delivery reservoir.   
     
     
         112 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , further comprising:
 the primary material contained within the delivery reservoir.   
     
     
         113 . The delivery device of  claim 112 , wherein the primary material is carried in solution, suspension, emulsion, or colloidal suspension in the delivery fluid within the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         114 . The delivery device of  claim 112 , wherein the primary material is carried in suspension, emulsion, or colloidal dispersion in the delivery fluid within the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         115 . The delivery device of  claim 112 , wherein the primary material is carried in a carrier structure within the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         116 . The delivery device of  claim 115 , wherein the carrier structure is a capsule. 
     
     
         117 . The delivery device of  claim 115 , wherein the carrier structure is a microcapsule. 
     
     
         118 . The delivery device of  claim 115 , wherein the carrier structure is a micelle. 
     
     
         119 . The delivery device of  claim 115 , wherein the carrier structure is a fullerene. 
     
     
         120 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , further comprising:
 the delivery fluid contained within the delivery reservoir.   
     
     
         121 . The delivery device of  claim 120 , wherein the delivery fluid is a liquid. 
     
     
         122 . The delivery device of  claim 120 , wherein the delivery fluid is a gas. 
     
     
         123 . The delivery device of  claim 120 , wherein the delivery fluid is a powder. 
     
     
         124 . The delivery device of  claim 120 , wherein the delivery fluid is a solution. 
     
     
         125 . The delivery device of  claim 120 , wherein the delivery fluid is a suspension. 
     
     
         126 . The delivery device of  claim 120 , wherein the delivery fluid is a emulsion. 
     
     
         127 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the pump is an osmotic pump. 
     
     
         128 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the pump is a mechanical pump. 
     
     
         129 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the pump is a displacement pump. 
     
     
         130 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the pump is a centrifugal pump. 
     
     
         131 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the pump is a peristaltic pump. 
     
     
         132 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the pump includes a receiving element adapted to receive an electromagnetic distribution control signal for controlling pumping. 
     
     
         133 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is a heating element in the wall of the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         134 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is a cooling element in the wall of the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         135 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is an expanding or contracting element in the wall of the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         136 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is a shape-changing element in the wall of the delivery reservoir. 
     
     
         137 . The delivery device of  claim 111 , wherein the electromagnetically responsive control element is an electromagnetic field responsive molecule in the delivery fluid, and wherein the first state is a first conformation state of the electromagnetic field responsive molecule, and wherein the second state is a second conformation state of the electromagnetic field responsive molecule.