Real-Time Conductivity Monitoring for Immunotherapy Timing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current cancer treatments often fail to provide personalized and effective treatment outcomes, especially after metastasis, as they do not adequately account for individual patient responses and can suppress the immune system.
Innovation Solution
A medical diagnostic system that uses real-time measurement of bulk tissue conductivity during non-thermal ablation treatments, such as irreversible electroporation (IRE), to guide additional treatment decisions, allowing for customization based on individual patient responses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional cancer treatments are applied, then tumor ablation is achieved, but immune system suppression occurs and treatment outcomes are not personalized
Solution Approach 1:
The system measures bulk tissue conductivity in real-time during IRE treatment and uses this feedback to determine treatment completion and guide subsequent immunotherapy timing. This closed-loop control enables personalized treatment decisions based on actual tissue response rather than fixed protocols
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses bulk tissue conductivity as a key parameter to monitor treatment progress and determine when to administer additional treatments. By changing treatment timing and type based on conductivity measurements, the system achieves personalized treatment optimization
2Productivity
If additional treatments are administered immediately after ablation, then treatment intensity is maximized, but immune response enhancement is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines the optimal timing for subsequent treatments in advance by measuring bulk tissue conductivity during IRE. This allows planning of immunotherapy administration at the optimal time point (4-30 days post-ablation) to maximize immune response while maintaining treatment intensity
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses periodic conductivity measurements during IRE treatment to monitor tissue changes over time. This periodic monitoring enables determination of the optimal interval before administering additional treatments, balancing treatment intensity with immune response enhancement
3Adaptability or versatility
If real-time measurement of bulk tissue conductivity is implemented, then treatment customization is enabled, but measurement complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the existing electrical pulses required for IRE treatment to simultaneously measure bulk tissue conductivity. The same electrodes and pulse generation hardware used for therapy also perform measurement, eliminating the need for separate complex measurement systems and enabling treatment customization
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
This approach enables tailored treatment plans that enhance the immune response, potentially leading to more effective tumor ablation and improved patient outcomes by optimizing the timing and type of subsequent treatments.
Implementation Method 1
the electrical pulses are configured to cause non-thermal irreversible electroporation of the tissue
Implementation Method 2
measuring a current of the applied electrical pulses
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2D
Figure 3
AI summary
Described herein are methods and systems of treating a tissue in a patient using a non-thermal ablation technique; measuring a change in a treatment parameter in real-time during the step of ablating; and administering an additional treatment to the subject in response to the measured change. The step of administering the additional treatment can occur 4-30 days post ablating. The additional treatment can be selected from the group of: tissue resection, thermal ablation, non-thermal ablation, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, biologic therapy, genetic therapy, and combinations thereof. The additional treatment can be measuring the amount of a pro-inflammatory immune molecule or cell, a suppressive immune molecule or cell, or both in a bodily fluid or a biopsied tissue of the patient. The non-thermal ablation technique can be irreversible electroporation. The non-thermal ablation technique, can be high-frequency irreversible electroporation. The treatment parameter can be bulk tissue conductivity.