ELECTROTRANSPORT SYSTEM HAVING FLEXIBLE MEANS

摘要

A device (10) for the electrically assisted delivery of a therapeutic agent is described. The device (10) has rigid zones or regions (12, 14) which are physically connected by a flexible means (16) such as a web. The flexible means (16) permits the rigid zones (12, 14) to move independently with respect to each other while remaining physically connected or coupled. In a preferred embodiment, the rigid zones are physically and electronically coupled by the flexible means. In another embodiment, the device (500) comprises one or more rigid zones, the skin side of the rigid zone having a radius of curvature (520) which approximates that of the body site to wich the divice (500) is to be attached. A method of increasing the body surface conformability of an electrotransport device (50, 150, 170) is described. The method involves the step of intentionally placing rigid subcomponents (58, 36, 37) of the device in physically separate zones (52, 54; 152, 154, 156, 158; 172, 174, 176, 178) within the device. The rigid zones (52, 54; 152, 154, 156, 158; 172, 174, 176, 178) are separate and are coupled by flexible connector means (56, 62; 160, 162). In this manner, a conformable mosaic of rigid zones which comprises the device is created.