Conformable Circumferential Electrodes for Irregular Vessel Ablation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrode systems struggle to maintain constant and uniform contact with varying and irregularly shaped treatment areas, particularly in body vessels, leading to inconsistent delivery of high-field electric pulses.
Innovation Solution
The development of electrodes that can conform to varying and irregularly shaped treatment areas, including expandable frames and adjustable electrodes, to deliver sub-microsecond pulsed electrical fields effectively and safely, minimizing damage to non-targeted regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional rigid electrodes are used, then the electrode structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the electrode cannot maintain constant and uniform contact with varying and irregularly shaped treatment areas
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode system employs expandable frames that can dynamically adjust their configuration. The frames are collapsible during delivery and expandable at the treatment site, allowing them to adapt to varying vessel diameters and irregular shapes. This dynamic transformation enables a single electrode design to accommodate multiple treatment scenarios without requiring multiple fixed-size electrodes.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode incorporates flexible components including expandable frames with radial struts and conformable electrode surfaces that can flexibly adapt to the irregular geometry of treatment areas. The flexible structure allows the electrode to conform to varying diameters and shapes while maintaining uniform contact, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and structural simplicity.
2Reliability
If electrodes are expanded to conform to irregular shapes, then contact uniformity is improved, but the risk of damage to non-targeted regions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode design incorporates insulated regions interspersed with active treatment regions along the electrode surface. This creates a patterned distribution where only specific localized areas deliver electric pulses while adjacent insulated areas prevent energy spread to non-targeted regions. The local quality variation ensures that even when the electrode conforms to irregular shapes, the electric field remains spatially confined to intended treatment zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode employs periodic alternating polarity pulses (PAP) that switch between positive and negative polarities. This periodic action allows the electric field to be delivered in controlled bursts with specific temporal patterns, enabling precise control over the depth and extent of tissue penetration while minimizing damage to non-targeted regions through the oscillating field pattern.
3Manufacturing precision
If sub-microsecond high-field pulses are delivered, then apoptosis induction in targeted cells is achieved, but thermal damage to surrounding tissue may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode delivers periodic alternating polarity pulses with sub-microsecond durations, alternating between positive and negative polarities. This periodic pulsed delivery allows sufficient time for heat dissipation between pulses while maintaining cumulative biological effects. The short pulse widths prevent significant thermal accumulation, enabling precise cellular-level treatment without macroscopic thermal damage to surrounding tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs sub-microsecond pulse widths with high field strengths, representing a dramatic change in the temporal and amplitude parameters of electric field delivery. These extreme parameter values enable direct cellular manipulation through electroporation and apoptosis induction without relying on thermal mechanisms, thereby achieving high precision cellular treatment while avoiding thermal damage to surrounding tissues.
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 electrodes efficiently deliver high-field electric pulses, inducing apoptosis in targeted cells while preserving surrounding tissue, effectively treating irregularly shaped body vessels and lumens without thermal damage.
Implementation Method 1
Short, high-field strength electric pulses have been described for electromanipulation of biological cells. For example, electric pulses may be used in treatment of human cells and tissue.
Implementation Method 2
The voltage induced across a cell membrane may depend on the pulse length and pulse amplitude. Pulses longer than about 1 microsecond may charge the outer cell membrane and may lead to permanent opening of pores.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for providing pulsed electrical treatment (including high voltage, sub-microsecond pulsed electric energy) to body vessels. The apparatus may include deployable electrodes that conform to transitional surfaces. These apparatuses may include multiple wire loops forming petal-like electrodes configured to expand with an expandable member, such as a balloon.