Method and apparatus for destroying dividing cells

a technology of dividing cells and apparatus, applied in the field of selective destruction of rapidly dividing cells, can solve the problems of limiting the therapeutic effect of such treatments, reducing the ability to distinguish between tumor cells and normal, and insufficiently sensitive tumor cells

a technology of dividing cells and apparatus, applied in the field of selective destruction of rapidly dividing cells, can solve the problems of limiting the therapeutic effect of such treatments, reducing the ability to distinguish between tumor cells and normal, and insufficiently sensitive tumor cells

USRE43618E1Inactive Publication Date: 2012-08-28NOVOCURE GMBH
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  • Method and apparatus for destroying dividing cells
  • Method and apparatus for destroying dividing cells
  • Method and apparatus for destroying dividing cells

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Embodiment Construction

[0031]Reference is made to FIGS. 1A-1E which schematically illustrate various stages of a cell division process. FIG. 1A shows a cell 10 at its normal geometry, which may be generally spherical (as shown in the drawings), ellipsoidal, cylindrical, “pancake” like, or any other cell geometry, as is known in the art. FIGS. 1B-1D show cell 10 during different stages of its division process, which results in the formation of two new cells 18 and 20, shown in FIG. 1E.

[0032]As shown in FIGS. 1B-1D, the division process of cell 10 is characterized by a slowly growing cleft 12 which gradually separates cell 10 into two units, namely, sub-cells 14 and 16, which eventually evolve into new cells 18 and 20 (FIG. 1E). As shown specifically in FIG. 1D, the division process is characterized by a transient period during which the structure of cell 10 is basically that of the two sub-cells 14 and 16 interconnected by a narrow “bridge”22 containing cell material (cytoplasm surrounded by cell membrane)...

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Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for selectively destroying dividing cells in living tissue formed of dividing cells and non-dividing cells. The dividing cells contain polarizable intracellular members and during late anaphase or telophase, the dividing cells are connected to one another by a cleavage furrow. According to the present method the living tissue is subjected to electric field conditions sufficient to cause movement of the polarizable intracellular members toward the cleavage furrow in response to a non-homogenous electric field being induced in the dividing cells. The non-homogenous electric field produces an increased density electric field in the region of the cleavage furrow. The movement of the polarizable intracellular members towards the cleavage furrow causes the break down thereof which results in destruction of the dividing cells, while the non-dividing cells of the living tissue remain intact.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a §371 national stage of PCT / IB01 / 00202, filed Feb. 16, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60 / 183,295, filed Feb. 17, 2000.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to selective destruction of rapidly dividing cells and, more particularly, to a method and device for selectively destroying dividing cells.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]It is known in the art that tumors, particularly malignant or cancerous tumors, grow very uncontrollably compared to normal tissue. Such expedited growth enables tumors to occupy an ever-increasing space and to damage or destroy tissue adjacent thereto. Furthermore, certain cancers are characterized by an ability to transmit cancerous “seeds”, including single cells or small cell clusters (metastasises), to new locations where the metastatic cancer cells grow into additional tumors.[0004]The rapid growth of tumors in general, and malignant tumo...

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Application Information

Patent Timeline
28 Aug 2012
Publication
USRE43618E1
IPC
A61N1/00; A61N1/20; C12M1/33; A61N1/32; C12M1/42; C12N13/00
CPC
A61N1/205; A61N1/326; A61B2018/00613; A61B2018/147
Inventors
PALTI, YORAM