Electrothermal Tumor Ablation With Temperature-Guided Pulse Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing treatments for cell proliferative diseases, such as surgical intervention, radiation, and chemotherapy, often cause significant collateral damage and side effects, and current electroporation techniques like NK-IRE are limited by muscle contractions and treatment time, making them less effective for inaccessible tumors and organs.
Innovation Solution
Electrothermal therapy (ETT) using ultra-short duration high-voltage electrical pulses to induce hyperthermia and permeabilize or rupture cell membranes, combined with real-time temperature control and adjunctive compounds, to achieve targeted tissue ablation with reduced muscle contractions and improved treatment efficacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If surgical intervention is used to remove tumors, then effective removal of solid tumors is achieved, but substantial physical damage and extensive recuperation are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical surgical intervention with electrothermal therapy using electrical pulses to generate heat and destroy tumor cells. The system delivers electrical pulses through electrodes that induce thermal necrosis and cell membrane rupture, eliminating the need for physical incisions and mechanical removal while achieving comparable tumor ablation effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of energy delivery from mechanical force to thermal energy. By controlling electrical pulse parameters (voltage, duration, frequency) to generate specific temperature ranges (40-60°C), the system achieves selective tissue destruction without mechanical trauma, thereby reducing physical damage and recuperation requirements.
2Reliability
If radiation is applied to kill tumor cells, then cell death is achieved, but collateral damage to surrounding tissue and long-lasting side effects occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by delivering electrical pulses through implanted electrodes that create a confined electric field around the tumor. The thermal effect is localized to the immediate vicinity of the electrodes, allowing precise targeting of tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue from radiation-like collateral damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses thermal energy as an intermediary mechanism between electrical pulses and tumor cell destruction. The electrical pulses generate heat through resistive heating, which then serves as the direct destructive mechanism, replacing radiation and avoiding its non-selective cellular damage while maintaining localized effect through controlled thermal diffusion.
3Adaptability or versatility
If chemotherapy is used to treat cell proliferative diseases, then systemic treatment is achieved, but significant side effects and long recuperation period occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces chemical therapy with physical therapy using electrical pulses. The electrothermal therapy directly targets and destroys tumor cells through heat and membrane rupture mechanisms, eliminating the need for systemic chemotherapy and its associated toxic side effects, while maintaining the ability to treat various tumor types through adjustable electrical parameters.
4Reliability
If conventional electroporation (NK-IRE) is used to ablate tissue, then cell membrane destabilization is achieved, but muscle contractions and long treatment time limit effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the electroporation parameters by using higher voltage pulses with longer duration (10-100 microseconds) compared to conventional NK-IRE. This parameter modification generates sufficient thermal energy to achieve both electroporation and thermal necrosis simultaneously, dramatically reducing treatment time while maintaining ablation reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges two mechanisms—electroporation and thermal heating—into a single electrothermal therapy process. The electrical pulses simultaneously create cell membrane pores and generate heat, achieving dual effects that accelerate tissue destruction and reduce treatment time compared to conventional electroporation that relies solely on membrane destabilization.
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
ETT enables rapid and controlled tissue ablation of tumors and unwanted tissues with minimal collateral damage, allowing for treatment of hard-to-reach tumors and organs in a shorter time frame.
Implementation Method 1
delivering to the target tissue the plurality of electrical pulses having the selected pulse waveform... to inducehyperthermic temperatures in the target tissue
Implementation Method 2
These pulses permanently destabilize the cell membranes of the targeted tissue (e.g., tumor), thereby killing the cells
Data Source
AI summary
A method for performing electrothermal therapy (ETT) includes inserting one or more electrodes into a target tissue, inserting one or more temperature sensors into the target tissue, selecting a pulse waveform for a plurality of electrical pulses, and delivering to the target tissue the plurality of electrical pulses having the selected pulse waveform through the one or more electrodes, wherein a delay between ones of the plurality of electrical pulses is selected based on a temperature reading from the one or more temperature sensors.