Non-Thermal PEF Tissue Ablation Near Sensitive Structures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional therapies for cancer and abnormal tissues often fail to completely eliminate cancer cells, leading to recurrence and spread, and existing treatments risk damaging sensitive structures near the target tissue.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using non-thermal pulsed electric field (PEF) energy delivery through instruments with energy delivery bodies to treat target tissues while preserving extracellular matrices and maintaining structural integrity, allowing for minimally invasive access to previously inaccessible locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional therapies are used to treat cancer cells, then cancer cells can be destroyed, but surrounding healthy structures are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies pulsed electric field energy with highly localized precision to treat cancer cells while preserving surrounding healthy structures. The energy delivery is focused specifically on the target tissue through catheter-based delivery systems, creating a localized treatment zone that spares adjacent healthy tissue from damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes non-thermal pulsed electric field energy with specific parameter ranges (voltage, pulse duration, frequency) that enable cancer cell destruction without the thermal damage associated with conventional heating methods. The controlled electric field parameters create selective cell membrane permeabilization in target cells while maintaining structural integrity of surrounding tissues.
2Productivity
If conventional therapies are used to treat cancer, then some cancer cells are eliminated, but recurrence occurs due to incomplete elimination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs repeated pulsed electric field delivery with multiple bursts of energy over time. This periodic application ensures complete cancer cell elimination by delivering sufficient total energy dose while allowing tissue recovery between pulses, preventing both incomplete destruction and thermal accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous monitoring and delivery of electric field energy until complete cancer cell elimination is achieved. The treatment continues systematically across the entire target region, ensuring no cancer cells are left untreated, thereby preventing recurrence while avoiding unnecessary treatment of already-destroyed cells.
3Reliability
If thermal energy is used to destroy tissue, then cancer cells are killed, but extracellular matrices and structural integrity are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces thermal energy mechanisms with electrical field mechanisms for tissue destruction. Instead of using heat (thermal energy) that denatures proteins and destroys extracellular matrices, the patent uses pulsed electric fields that create electroporation in cell membranes, achieving cancer cell death through electrical rather than thermal means, thereby preserving structural integrity.
4Reliability
If aggressive treatment is applied to eliminate all cancer cells, then recurrence is reduced, but damage to healthy tissue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the treatment into multiple discrete energy delivery pulses and treats different regions of cancer separately through catheter positioning. This segmentation allows precise control over which cells receive the full therapeutic dose, ensuring complete cancer cell elimination while limiting exposure of surrounding healthy tissue to harmful energy levels.
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 effectively destroys target tissues while preserving surrounding structures, enabling comprehensive treatment and reducing recurrence, and allows for synergistic effects with other therapies.
Implementation Method 1
deliver non-thermal energy to the mass of undesired tissue cells... provide an electric signal of the non-thermal energy deliverable to the mass of undesired tissue
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems and methods are provided to treat damaged, diseased, abnormal, obstructive, cancerous or undesired tissue (e.g. a tumor, a benign tumor, a malignant tumor, a cyst, or an area of diseased tissue, etc) by delivering specialized pulsed electric field (PEF) energy to target tissue areas. The energy is delivered in a manner so as to be non-thermal (i.e. below a threshold for causing thermal ablation). Consequently, when extracellular matrices present, the extracellular matrices are preserved, and the targeted tissue maintains its structural architecture including blood vessels and lymphatics. Thus, sensitive structures, such as biological lumens, blood vessels, nerves, etc, are preserved which are critical to maintaining the integrity and functionality of the tissue. The energy is delivered with the use of systems and devices advantageously designed for superior access to target tissue throughout the body, particularly in locations previously considered inaccessible to percutaneous approaches.