Thoracoscopic Electroporation Device With Suction Head And Needle Electrodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current therapies for lung cancer, such as surgery, radiotherapy, and radio frequency ablation, are inadequate for 80-85% of patients, as they either destroy surrounding tissues or lack specificity, leading to poor treatment outcomes and significant side effects.
Innovation Solution
A thoracoscopic electroporation device with a suction head and needle electrodes that deploy from a retracted to an expanded configuration, using electroporation to make tissue porous, allowing targeted delivery of therapeutic agents like cisplatin, while minimizing damage to healthy tissues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If radio frequency ablation is used to destroy tumor tissue, then tumor destruction is achieved, but surrounding healthy tissues are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The device applies electroporation selectively to tumor tissue by inserting needles directly into the tumor mass, creating localized electric field effects only where needed. The suction cup anchors the device to the tumor surface, ensuring that the electric pulses and drug delivery are confined to the tumor region, thereby protecting surrounding healthy tissues from damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a chemical intermediary (chemotherapeutic agent) that is delivered through the needle array into the tumor tissue. This chemical mediator enhances the electroporation effect and ensures selective tumor cell death while sparing healthy tissue. The combination of electrical pulses and chemical agent creates a synergistic effect localized to the tumor site.
2Productivity
If conventional therapies are applied to lung cancer, then treatment is provided, but treatment effectiveness is insufficient for 80-85% of patients
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces mechanical surgical resection with a minimally invasive electroporation-based system. Instead of physically removing tumor tissue through surgery, the device uses electrical pulses to induce porosity in tumor cells, followed by chemotherapeutic agent delivery. This substitution enables treatment of patients who are not suitable for surgery while maintaining high treatment effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The device changes the physical state of tumor cell membranes through electroporation, creating transient pores that increase permeability. This parameter change allows enhanced delivery of chemotherapeutic agents directly into tumor cells, dramatically improving treatment effectiveness compared to conventional systemic chemotherapy alone.
3Device complexity
If a fixed configuration device is used, then device simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different tissue targets is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates a dynamic needle array system where needles can be independently advanced or retracted relative to the suction cup body. This dynamic configuration allows the device to adapt to tumors of varying depths and sizes while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure. The needles can be adjusted to reach different tissue depths without requiring multiple fixed-length needle sets.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is segmented into modular components: a suction cup body, a needle array with multiple independently controllable needles, and a handle mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and enables flexible adaptation to different treatment scenarios by adjusting which needles are activated and to what extent.
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 device achieves effective tumor resolution with reduced side effects by increasing drug absorption in tumors and boosting the immune response, offering a minimally invasive, targeted, and immunomodulatory treatment option for lung cancer.
Implementation Method 1
A thoracoscopic electroporation device with a suction head and needle electrodes that deploy from a retracted to an expanded configuration, using electroporation to make tissue porous
Implementation Method 2
The device comprises a vacuum applying means for gripping the suction head to tissue
Data Source
AI summary
A thoracoscopic electroporation device for carrying out electroporation on tissue includes a suction head and a plurality of needle electrodes. The needle electrodes include a central needle providing a first electrode and a plurality of second needles which are spaced-apart around the periphery of the suction head. The electrodes are movable from a retracted configuration to a deployed configuration and in the deployed configuration the needles extend from the suction head. The suction head has a retracted delivery configuration and an expanded deployed configuration. The suction head includes a suitable flexible material for biasing the suction head into the expanded deployed configuration. The suction head has channels for the needles and the needles are movable through the channels from the retracted to the deployed configuration. In the deployed configuration, the central first needle extends beyond the peripheral needles.