Ejection Liquid, Ejection Method, Method for Forming Liquid Droplets, Liquid Ejection Cartridge and Ejection Apparatus

Abstract

An ejection liquid capable of being stably ejected based on a system using thermal energy even if the liquid contains at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins and peptides, and a method and an apparatus for ejecting the liquid containing at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins and peptides using this system are provided. The applicability of the liquid for use in an inkjet system using thermal energy is improved by adding at least one selected from the group consisting of amino acids and salts thereof and a surfactant to an aqueous solution containing at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins and peptides.

1 . An ejection liquid for use in a system of ejecting the ejection liquid from an ejection port by use of thermal energy, characterized by comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins and peptides, at least one selected from the group consisting of amino acids and salts thereof, and a surfactant in a liquid medium containing water as a main component.  
     
     
         2 . The ejection liquid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the amino acids refer to at least one selected from the group consisting of arginine, proline, glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, valine, threonine and alanine.  
     
     
         3 . The ejection liquid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the amino acids refer to at least one selected from the group consisting of arginine, proline and glycine.  
     
     
         4 . The ejection liquid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the surfactant is at least one selected from the group consisting of nonionic surfactants and amino acid surfactants.  
     
     
         5 . The ejection liquid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the surfactant is at least one selected from the group consisting of polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester, alkylamide-alkylbetaine, N-acylsarcosine, N-acylglutamic acid, N-acylglycine and an arginine fatty acid salt.  
     
     
         6 . The ejection liquid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins and peptides is at least one selected from the group consisting of calcitonin, insulins, glucagons, interferons, protease inhibitors, cytokines, growth hormones, hemopoietic factors proteins, antibodies; and analogues, derivatives, and chemically modified substances thereof.  
     
     
         7 . The ejection liquid according to  claim 1 , characterized by comprising 1 part by weight to 200 parts by weight of the amino acids and salts thereof and 0.01 part by weight to 100 parts by weight of the surfactant added relative to 1 part by weight of the proteins and peptides.  
     
     
         8 . The ejection liquid according to  claim 1  for use in a thermal inkjet system.  
     
     
         9 . A method of ejecting the ejection liquid according to  claim 1  based on the principle of a thermal inkjet system.  
     
     
         10 . A liquid ejection cartridge characterized by comprising a tank storing the ejection liquid according to  claim 1  and an ejection head.  
     
     
         11 . The liquid ejection cartridge according to  claim 10 , characterized in that the ejection head ejects the liquid by the thermal inkjet system.  
     
     
         12 . An ejection apparatus characterized by comprising the cartridge according to  claim 10 , a channel and an opening portion for guiding a liquid ejected from a liquid ejection section of a head of the cartridge to an inspiration site of a user.  
     
     
         13 . The ejection apparatus according to  claim 12  for use in inhaling by the user from the mouth.  
     
     
         14 . A method of forming a liquid containing at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins and peptides into liquid droplets by applying ejection thermal energy to the liquid, characterized in that the method comprises a step of applying the ejection energy to the liquid with which a channel is filled, thereby ejecting the liquid in the form of liquid droplets from an ejection port communicated with the channel, and the liquid is the ejection liquid according to  claim 1.