Percutaneous Electrode Array for Selective Tissue Ablation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for malignant, benign, and inflammatory masses, such as cancerous tumors and prostatitis, often result in significant side effects and long-term quality of life decreases, with surgery or radiation not being viable options for all cases, particularly for inoperable masses or those near critical tissues.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus using dynamically steered electrical current vectors applied through multiple electrode shafts with thermal sensors and dissolvable coatings, allowing for precise heating and destruction of cancerous cells while minimizing healthy tissue damage, using proprietary software to optimize waveform delivery and focusing energy within the mass.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If surgery or radiation therapy is used to treat malignant or benign masses, then the mass can be removed or destroyed, but significant side effects occur and quality of life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical surgery and radiation therapy with a chemical/electrical field-based treatment system. The system uses percutaneous electrodes to deliver electrical current that generates heat through resistive heating (Joule heating) to destroy the mass, substituting the mechanical cutting and radiation exposure with a controlled thermal field generated electrically.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the treatment by controlling electrical current density, frequency, and duration to achieve selective heating of the target mass. By adjusting these parameters, the system can heat the mass to destructive temperatures while limiting heat spread to surrounding healthy tissues, thereby reducing side effects compared to surgery or radiation.
2Reliability
If surgery is used to remove masses near critical tissues, then the mass can be removed, but the risk of damaging critical structures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating the electrical current and resulting heat generation specifically within the target mass. The percutaneous electrodes are positioned to deliver current primarily through the mass, creating a localized thermal field that destroys the mass while sparing adjacent critical structures from thermal damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical cutting action of surgery with a controlled thermal field that can be precisely confined to the target mass. This substitution allows for destruction of the mass without the mechanical trauma and risk of accidental damage to critical structures that accompanies surgical cutting.
3Reliability
If radiation therapy is used to treat inoperable masses, then the mass can be treated, but long-term quality of life decreases due to side effects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces radiation therapy with an electrical/thermal field-based treatment. Instead of using ionizing radiation that causes long-term tissue damage and quality of life issues, the system uses controlled electrical current to generate heat that destroys the mass through coagulation and necrosis, with potentially fewer long-term side effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the treatment modality from radiation to controlled electrical heating by adjusting parameters such as current amplitude, frequency, and pulse duration. This allows for precise control of the thermal field to achieve mass destruction while minimizing damage to surrounding tissues, thereby preserving long-term quality of life.
4Reliability
If standard surgery is used to treat masses, then the mass can be removed, but the procedure is not viable for inoperable masses or those near critical tissues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical surgery with a percutaneous electrical field-based treatment that can be applied to inoperable masses. The thin percutaneous electrodes can be inserted through the skin and positioned around or within the target mass, allowing treatment of masses that would be inaccessible or too risky for open surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by delivering electrical current and heat generation specifically to the target mass through percutaneous electrodes. This localized approach allows treatment of masses near critical structures by confining the therapeutic effect to the mass itself, expanding the range of operable cases to include previously inoperable ones.
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
This approach enables effective treatment of previously inoperable masses with reduced side effects, allowing for the destruction of cancerous cells while converting the treated area into scar tissue, which can be left in place or removed later, without the need for radiation or chemotherapy, and allows for quick healing and potential touch-ups.
Implementation Method 1
dynamically steered electrical current vectors applied through multiple electrode shafts with thermal sensors allowing for precise heating and destruction of cancerous cells
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for treating a condition in a patient such as BPH, irretractable infection, cyst, fibroid, or any mass such as prostate or breast cancer, skin cancer, melanoma, or any other soft tissue cancerous or benign mass, employs a unique, three-dimensional software-controlled electronic amplifier array using arbitrary waveforms that dynamically and proportionally steer electrical currents by using two or more current vector paths, sequentially or simultaneously, through a defined area containing electrically-conductive ionic solutions so as to obtain 100% thermal heating or hyperthermia through the defined area. The condition is treated or a mass is destroyed with a minimally-invasive treatment which requires no radiation or chemotherapy which could be harmful to the patient.