ORALLY ADMINISTRABLE DELIVERY DEVICE

摘要

An orally administrable delivery device (10) comprising a housing (11) with walls of a water-permeable material and having a first chamber (13) adapted to receive an active ingredient, an orifice (15) through which the active ingredient is expelled from the housing (10) under pressure in a liquid form and a second chamber (14) containing two spaced-apart electrodes (16, 17) which form part of an electric circuit which is closed upon ingress of an aqueous ionic solution to the second chamber (14), such that a potential difference is set up between the electrodes (16, 17) and a current flows through the circuit resulting in the generation of a gas at electrode (16), the gas once generated acting on a displaceable membrane (12) to compress the first chamber (13) and expel the active ingredient through the orifice (15) for progressive delivery to the gastrointestinal tract. The electrode (16) forms part of an electric circuit which is closed by the ingress of an electrolyte (the aqueous solution), the circuit allowing controlled generation of gas and, thereby, controlled delivery of the active ingredient to the gastrointestinal tract.