Cold Atmospheric Plasma Probe for Breast Cancer Margin Treatment
Solution Overview
Problem
Triple-negative breast cancer lacks effective targeted therapies, and current treatments result in lower survival rates compared to other breast cancer subtypes, with a need for innovative methods to reduce cancer cell viability without thermal damage.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment, which involves a single device for reducing cancer cell viability by projecting dosage settings based on calculated cell viability reduction rates, allowing for effective treatment of surgical margins and tumor ablation, specifically designed for triple-negative breast cancer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemotherapy is used to treat triple-negative breast cancer, then cancer cells are targeted systemically, but survival rates remain lower compared to other breast cancer subtypes due to lack of effective targeted therapy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional chemotherapy (chemical system) with cold atmospheric plasma (physical system). CAP generates reactive species through electrical discharge in gas flow, creating a physical-chemical hybrid treatment mechanism that selectively damages cancer cells while sparing normal tissue, thereby improving both treatment effectiveness and survival rates
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of cancer treatment by using non-thermal plasma with controlled energy deposition. By adjusting plasma power, gas flow rate, and treatment duration, the system achieves selective cytotoxicity against triple-negative breast cancer cells without the systemic side effects of chemotherapy, improving reliability and productivity
2Object-affected harmful factors
If cold atmospheric plasma treatment is applied to reduce cancer cell viability, then cell death is achieved without thermal damage, but the mechanism requires understanding of complex plasma-biological interactions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by delivering CAP energy selectively to tumor tissue through a probe or spray system. The treatment creates localized plasma reactions at the application site with minimal energy diffusion to surrounding healthy tissue, achieving cancer cell ablation without thermal damage while maintaining simple operational parameters
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses inert gas (helium or argon) as an intermediary medium to deliver plasma energy to cancer cells. The gas carries reactive species generated by electrical discharge directly to the tumor surface, mediating the energy transfer while protecting surrounding tissue from thermal effects, thus simplifying the treatment mechanism
3Device complexity
If a single device is used for both tumor ablation and surgical margin treatment, then device complexity is reduced, but dosage estimation must be precisely controlled for effective treatment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a universal CAP delivery system that can perform both tumor ablation and surgical margin treatment through the same device. The system adjusts treatment parameters (power, duration, gas flow) based on the specific application, eliminating the need for multiple specialized devices while maintaining treatment precision through programmable control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback control by monitoring treatment parameters and adjusting plasma delivery in real-time. The system measures energy deposition, gas flow rate, and treatment duration to calculate precise dosage, providing closed-loop control that ensures accurate energy delivery for both ablation and margin treatment functions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The CAP treatment effectively reduces triple-negative breast cancer cell viability up to 80% without thermal damage, providing a novel adjunct to current treatment protocols and improving prognosis by enabling precise dosage estimation for clinical applications.
Implementation Method 1
Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has been extensively studied for its biomedical use in various fields such as surface decontamination, wound healing, dental treatment, allergen destruction, HIV virus treatment
Implementation Method 2
It is widely reported that CAP deactivated more than 20 types of cancer in vitro by inducing apoptosis cell cycle arrest, endoplasmic reticulum stress and DNA damage
Implementation Method 3
The system used in the examples is comprised of two units, namely the conversion unit (CU) and the cold plasma probe (CPP). The CU is integrated with a USMI SS-601 MCa, a high-frequency electrosurgical generator (ESU) unit
Data Source
AI summary
A method for performing cold atmospheric plasma therapy to treat breast cancer. The cancerous tumor is sampled and cold atmospheric plasma treatment is performed on sampled cancerous tumor cells ex vivo. The results of the testing are stored in an electronic storage media. A cell viability reduction rate of said tested samples is calculated with a processor and stored in memory. An average cell viability reduction rate is then calculated by the processor for the cancerous tumor. Cold atmospheric plasma dosages to be used in treatment of the cancerous tumor in vivo are then projected using the processor. The tumor is surgically removed from the patient. The surgical margins of the tumor are then treated with cold atmospheric plasma at the projected dosages.