Diffusive Applicator for Cold Atmospheric Plasma Cancer Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cancer therapies are nonselective and invasive, leading to unintended tissue damage and incomplete tumor ablation, while conventional laser surgery causes necrosis and permanent tissue damage, necessitating a minimally invasive method that can selectively target and kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.
Innovation Solution
A cold atmospheric plasma apparatus with a diffusive applicator system that generates large-scale diffusive cold plasma (LSDCP), which is thermally harmless to living tissue but lethal to cancer cells, using a bio-compatible housing with electrodes and a gas-assisted electrosurgical generator to produce a high volume of cold plasma for simultaneous treatment of large areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional laser surgery is used to remove cancer cells, then cell removal is achieved, but thermal damage and necrosis occur causing permanent tissue damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of energy interaction from thermal (laser) to non-thermal plasma. The cold atmospheric plasma operates at temperatures that do not cause thermal damage, while still achieving cell removal through chemical reactions and reactive species. This parameter change resolves the contradiction by eliminating thermal harm while maintaining cell removal capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the thermal-mechanical laser system with a chemical-plasma system. Instead of using high-temperature laser energy that causes necrosis, the invention uses cold plasma with reactive oxygen and nitrogen species to selectively damage cancer cells through chemical mechanisms, avoiding thermal damage entirely.
2Productivity
If non-selective cancer therapy is applied to treat tumors, then tumor ablation is achieved, but healthy tissue is damaged and ablation is incomplete
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating plasma with different chemical compositions and reactive species concentrations that can selectively interact with cancer cells versus healthy cells. The cold plasma generates reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that exploit the different biochemical vulnerabilities of cancer cells, achieving selective damage without affecting healthy tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the selectivity parameter by using non-thermal plasma chemistry rather than thermal energy. The reactive species in cold plasma (such as O2-, NO, and other radicals) can be tuned to preferentially damage cancer cells through their different metabolic and structural characteristics, achieving high selectivity while maintaining effective tumor ablation.
3Area of stationary object
If large volume plasma is generated for simultaneous treatment of large areas, then treatment coverage is improved, but plasma concentration at target site may be diluted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the plasma generation into multiple electrode regions within the applicator, each creating localized plasma zones. This segmentation allows simultaneous treatment of large areas while maintaining high reactive species concentration at each discrete plasma site, preventing dilution that would occur with a single large plasma source.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses gas flow as an intermediary to transport reactive species from the plasma generation zones to the target tissue. The controlled gas flow ensures that reactive species are delivered efficiently to the treatment area while maintaining concentration gradients that preserve therapeutic effectiveness across large treatment areas.
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 system allows for selective killing of cancer cells while preserving normal cells, reducing cancer cell migration and metastasis, offering a novel therapeutic approach with minimal invasiveness and thermal safety.
Implementation Method 1
electrical energy applied to the plurality of electrodes to form a cold plasma flowing from the exit ports
Implementation Method 2
provide for an inert gas flowing in the entry port and through the chamber to the exit port to become plasmatized by electrical energy
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus or device for performing cold atmospheric plasma procedures. The device or apparatus has a housing, a chamber within the housing, an entry port to the chamber, a plurality of exit ports from the chamber, and a plurality of electrodes mounted in the housing, each of the plurality of electrodes having a distal end adjacent one of the plurality of exit ports. The entry port, chamber, exit ports and plurality of electrodes are configured to provide for an inert gas flowing in the entry port and through the chamber to the exit port to become plasmatized by electrical energy applied to the plurality of electrodes to form a cold plasma flowing from the exit ports.