Extracorporeal Blood Heating With Counter-Current Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hyperthermia treatments for cancer and other maladies are limited in effectiveness and often cause harm to healthy cells, with inadequate targeting and temperature control leading to suboptimal patient outcomes.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for inducing hyperthermia by heating blood to 42-43.9 degrees Celsius, using a heat exchanger and oxygenator, with integrated toxin removal and venting systems, to selectively target and treat cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy cells.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If blood is heated to high temperatures to kill cancer cells, then therapeutic effect is improved, but healthy cells are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different temperature zones within the blood treatment system. The counter-current heat exchange mechanism allows one stream of blood to be heated to therapeutic temperatures (42-45°C) while the other stream remains at or near body temperature, enabling selective heating of cancer-containing blood portions without uniformly heating all blood to harmful levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an intermediary heat exchange mechanism where blood serves as both the treatment medium and the heat transfer medium. By passing blood through heat exchanger tubes in counter-current flow, the system uses the blood itself to transfer heat, allowing precise temperature control and gradual heating that prevents sudden thermal shocks to healthy cells.
2Reliability
If blood is heated to higher than desired temperature, then cancer cell destruction is enhanced, but temperature control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback control through temperature sensors positioned at multiple points in the heat exchange system. These sensors continuously monitor blood temperature and provide feedback to the control mechanism, allowing real-time adjustment of heating to maintain temperatures within the therapeutic window (42-45°C) and prevent overheating that would damage healthy cells.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamics by using a counter-current heat exchange system where temperature gradients are dynamically maintained along the length of the heat exchanger. This creates a progressive heating effect where blood temperature increases gradually rather than abruptly, allowing better control over the final temperature achieved and reducing the risk of exceeding safe thresholds.
3Adaptability or versatility
If only a certain area of the body is targeted, then treatment specificity is improved, but overall patient outcome deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by creating a blood treatment system that can address multiple therapeutic needs simultaneously. The same heat exchange apparatus can treat different blood streams with different temperature profiles, enabling both localized cancer treatment and systemic therapeutic effects through a single integrated system that processes circulating blood throughout the body.
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
Achieves targeted hyperthermia treatment of cancer and infections with reduced harm to healthy cells by maintaining core body temperature within safe limits, facilitating apoptotic cell death and immune stimulation, and managing toxins and gases.
Implementation Method 1
heating blood to 42-43.9 degrees Celsius, using a heat exchanger
Implementation Method 2
oxygenator
Data Source
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AI summary
According to some embodiments, a system may treat blood outside the body of a patient. The system may include one or more pumps configured to draw blood from a patient into a fluid flow path at a rate, for example, of 5-7 liters per minute. The system may include one or more heat exchangers coupled to the fluid flow path and configured to heat the blood, for example, to a temperature above 42 degrees Celsius and below 43.2 degrees Celsius.