Apparatus and methods for delivery of a drug or compound into a fluid
flowing within a tube or catheter. In one embodiment a catheter includes
an inner surface coated with a polymer matrix such as a hydrogel. The
hydrogel includes captured within it a therapeutic agent. The method of
capture may be by various means, including photolabile bonds between the
therapeutic agent and the hydrogel. The therapeutic agent is released
from the hydrogel by the application of energy to the hydrogel, such as
by a laser emitting a wavelength which resonates and breaks the
photolabile bond. The released therapeutic agent diffuses out of the
hydrogel into the liquid flowing within a lumen of the catheter.