Patents Assigned to Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
  • Islet1 (Isl1) and hearing loss
    Patent number: 9149024
    Abstract: Described are methods and compositions for increasing islet-1 (Isl1) activity (e.g., biological activity) and or expression (e.g., transcription and/or translation) in a biological cell and or in a subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Mingqian Huang, Albena Kantardzhieva, Zheng-Yi Chen
  • Methods for promoting reinnervation of auditory hair cells
    Patent number: 9125894
    Abstract: This invention relates to methods for promoting reinnervation of auditory hair cells, specifically, by inhibiting Repulsive Guidance Molecule a (RGMa), a repulsive axonal guidance molecule that is expressed in the cochlea, or its receptor, neogenin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
    Inventor: Albert Edge
  • FERROMAGNETIC VALVES
    Publication number: 20150202082
    Abstract: The disclosure includes devices and methods for controlling fluid flow. The devices include a tube configured to receive fluid from a fluid source; and a valve for controlling fluid flow through the tube, the valve responsive to fluid pressure in the tube. The valve includes a first magnet outside the tube at a fixed first distance from the tube and a second magnet outside the tube substantially opposite the first magnet and at a second distance from the tube, the second distance greater than the first distance. The valve includes a ferromagnetic fluid within the tube between the first magnet and the second magnet and held in position by a magnetic field generated by the first magnet. The amount of ferromagnetic fluid is sufficient to seal the tube when the fluid pressure is below a threshold pressure set by the second distance between the second magnet and the tube.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2013
    Publication date: July 23, 2015
    Applicant: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Eleftherios Paschalis Ilios, Claes H. Dohlman
  • Methods of delivering pharmaceutical agents
    Patent number: 9084756
    Abstract: Provided are methods of delivering at least one pharmaceutical agent to the central nervous system (CNS) of a subject, methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include forming a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject and administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto the SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of forming a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject, compositions for administration onto a SEM graft in the skull base or into an endonasal reservoir or endonasal reservoir device in a subject, and devices for administering such compositions onto a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
    Inventor: Benjamin S. Bleier
  • Hearing aid feedback noise alarms
    Patent number: 9025801
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems for informing a user about hearing aid feedback noise including, for example, receiving, through one or more microphones, an acoustic signal sample, analyzing the acoustic signal sample to determine whether feedback noise is present in the acoustic signal sample, and displaying to the user an indication of whether feedback noise is present in the acoustic signal sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Steven D. Rauch, Chris Halpin
  • Treatment of ocular disorders
    Patent number: 8987219
    Abstract: The invention includes a method of treating an intraocular disorder in a mammal, the method comprising administering to the mammal a Very Late Antigen-4 (VLA-4) antagonist for the treatment of selected ocular disorders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Eirini Iliaki, Anthony P. Adamis, Joan W. Miller, Evangelos S. Gragoudas
  • Vision Prosthesis
    Publication number: 20150057748
    Abstract: A vision prosthesis includes an intra-ocular lens system having a variable focal length; and a controller that causes a change in the focal length thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Applicant: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventor: Dimitri T. Azar
  • Methods of delivering pharmaceutical agents
    Patent number: 8945600
    Abstract: Provided are methods of delivering at least one pharmaceutical agent to the central nervous system (CNS) of a subject, methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include forming a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject and administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto the SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of forming a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject, compositions for administration onto a SEM graft in the skull base or into an endonasal reservoir or endonasal reservoir device in a subject, and devices for administering such compositions onto a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
    Inventor: Benjamin S. Bleier
  • Use of Stem Cells to Generate Inner Ear Cells
    Publication number: 20150030568
    Abstract: This invention relates generally to methods and compositions for inducing stem cell or progenitor cell differentiation, and more particularly to methods and compositions for inducing differentiation of stem cells and/or progenitor cells into cells that function within the inner ear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Publication date: January 29, 2015
    Applicant: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Huawei Li, Albert Edge, Stefan Heller
  • Methods for Treating Corneal and Conjunctival Inflammation and Inflammatory Disorders
    Publication number: 20150010563
    Abstract: Provided herein are methods for reducing corneal inflammation, reducing inflammatory cell (e.g., dendritic cell) recruitment to the cornea, and treating an corneal inflammatory disorder in a subject that include administering to the subject one or more of a MadC AM-1 antagonist, an ?4?7 integrin antagonist, a L-selectin antagonist, and an E-selectin antagonist. Also provided are compositions containing one or more of a MadC AM-1 antagonist, an ?4?7 integrin antagonist, a L-selectin antagonist, and an E-selectin antagonist, and kits containing these compositions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2013
    Publication date: January 8, 2015
    Applicant: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Pedram Hamrah, Ulrich von Andrian, Aslihan Turhan
  • METHODS FOR TREATING OCULAR INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS
    Publication number: 20150005254
    Abstract: Provided are methods for treating ocular inflammatory disorders, including macular edema, using an AMP kinase activator, e.g., 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-?-d-ribofuranoside (AICAR). The method reduces inflammation, thereby minimizing the loss of vision or visual function associated with these ocular disorders.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Publication date: January 1, 2015
    Applicant: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY
    Inventor: Demetrios G. Vavvas
  • Conditional-stop dimerizable caspase transgenic animals
    Patent number: 8921642
    Abstract: Described are transgenic animals for conditional and inducible cell targeting, that express a dimerizable conditional-STOP caspase 3 transgene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Albert Edge, Masato Fujioka
  • COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING NECROSIS INHIBITORS, SUCH AS NECROSTATINS, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION, FOR PROMOTING AXON REGENERATION AND NERVE FUNCTION, THEREBY TREATING CNS DISORDERS
    Publication number: 20140357570
    Abstract: Provided are methods for promoting axon regeneration of a Central Nervous System (CNS) neuron and promoting nerve function following injury to a CNS neuron, for example, brain and/or spinal cord injury. Axon regeneration in a CNS neuron or nerve function following injury to a CNS neuron can be promoted by administering a necrosis inhibitor either alone or in combination with an apoptosis inhibitor to a subject suffering from a CNS disorder, wherein a symptom of the CNS disorder is axon degeneration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2012
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Applicant: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY
    Inventor: Demetrios G. Vavvas
  • Drug Delivery Systems and Use Thereof
    Publication number: 20140328937
    Abstract: The invention provides a microsphere formulation for the sustained delivery of an aptamer, for example, an anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor aptamer, to a preselected locus in a mammal, such as the eye. In addition, the invention provides methods for making such formulations, and methods of using such formulations to deliver an aptamer to a preselected locus in a mammal. In particular, the invention provides a method for delivering the aptamer to an eye for the treatment of an ocular disorder, for example, age-related macular degeneration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2014
    Publication date: November 6, 2014
    Applicant: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Karen G. Carrasquillo, Anthony P. Adamis, Joan W. Miller, Evangelos S. Gragoudas
  • Drug delivery apparatus
    Patent number: 8876795
    Abstract: An implantable drug delivery apparatus for delivering a drug into a bodily fluid in a bodily cavity of a patient over a period of time includes a drug supply reservoir to supply drug into a delivery channel and an actuator for delivering the drug to a predetermined location in the bodily cavity of the patient, such as, for example, a cochlea of a human ear. The drug is loaded into the delivery channel while producing substantially negligible flow at an outlet of the delivery channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignees: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Jason O. Fiering, Mark J. Mescher, Erin E. Pararas, Jeffrey T. Borenstein, William F. Sewell, Sharon G. Kujawa, Michael J. McKenna, Ernest S. Kim
  • OSTEOPROTEGERIN IN NEUROPROTECTION
    Publication number: 20140322231
    Abstract: Methods for treating neurodegeneration, e.g., sensorineural hearing loss, or a demyelinating disease, using bisphosphonates, ERK kinase inhibitors, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) proteins or nucleic acids.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2014
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Applicant: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY
    Inventors: Konstantina Stankovic, Michael McKenna, Shyan-Yuan Kao, Albert Edge
  • METHODS FOR PRESERVING PHOTORECEPTOR CELL VIABILITY FOLLOWING RETINAL DETACHMENT
    Publication number: 20140323455
    Abstract: Provided are methods for maintaining the viability of photoreceptor cells following retinal detachment. The viability of photoreceptor cells can be preserved by administering a hydrophilic bile acid (e.g., UDCA or TUDCA) to a mammal having an eye with a detached retina. Administration of the hydrophilic bile acid maintains the viability of the photoreceptor cells until such time that the retina becomes reattached to the underlying retinal pigment epithelium and choroid, thereby minimizing the loss of vision or visual acuity, which otherwise may occur as a result of the retinal detachment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2012
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Applicant: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY
    Inventor: Demetrios G. Vavvas
  • Compounds that enhance Atoh1 expression
    Patent number: 8859597
    Abstract: This invention generally provides compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, and methods for their use, which include methods that result in increased expression in an Atoh1 gene (e.g., Hath1) in a biological cell. More specifically, the invention relates to the treatment of diseases and/or disorders that would benefit from increased Atoh1 expression, e.g., a hearing impairment or imbalance disorder associated with a loss of auditory hair cells, or a disorder associated with abnormal cellular proliferation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignees: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Inc.
    Inventors: Albert Edge, Sang-Jun Jeon, Kathleen Seyb, Marcie Glicksman, Lixin Qiao, Gregory D. Cuny
  • METHODS OF DELIVERING PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS
    Publication number: 20140256627
    Abstract: Provided are methods of delivering at least one pharmaceutical agent to the central nervous system (CNS) of a subject, methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include forming a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject and administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto the SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of forming a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject, compositions for administration onto a SEM graft in the skull base or into an endonasal reservoir or endonasal reservoir device in a subject, and devices for administering such compositions onto a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2014
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventor: Benjamin S. Bleier
  • Methods and Compositions for Treating Polyps
    Publication number: 20140255421
    Abstract: The invention relates generally to methods and compositions for treating sinusitis, asthma, or polyps. The invention also relates to methods and compositions for treating nasal polyps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2014
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
    Inventors: Konstantina M. Stankovic, Ralph Metson