Transducer Array Placement for Brain Tumor Electric Field Targeting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current techniques for applying alternating electric fields to treat cancer, such as glioblastoma, face challenges in optimizing electric field distribution and energy absorption within the brain due to varying tissue properties and tumor geometry, leading to inconsistent treatment efficacy.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that use imaging data to construct a detailed representation of the subject's head, including tumor and anatomical structures, to calculate optimal transducer placements and electric field propagation, ensuring targeted energy absorption and distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If alternating electric fields are applied to treat cancer using standard transducer placement, then cancer cells can be targeted, but inconsistent treatment efficacy occurs due to varying tissue properties and tumor geometry
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculation of electric field propagation and energy absorption distribution before actual treatment. By using imaging data to construct a representation of the patient's head and pre-calculating optimal transducer placements, the system prepares a personalized treatment plan that accounts for individual anatomical characteristics and tumor geometry, ensuring consistent and effective treatment delivery.
2Reliability
If transducer placement is optimized for each patient, then treatment efficacy is enhanced, but calculation complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a computational representation (copy) of the patient's head based on imaging data, including tumor and anatomical structures. This virtual model allows for complex electric field propagation calculations to be performed on the representation rather than requiring complex physical trial-and-error adjustments, thereby enhancing treatment efficacy while managing calculation complexity through digital modeling.
3Adaptability or versatility
If detailed imaging data is used to construct head representation, then personalized treatment is achieved, but data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential information from detailed imaging data needed for treatment planning, such as tumor location, size, shape, and key anatomical structures. By selecting and processing only the relevant data elements rather than analyzing all imaging data in full detail, the system achieves personalized treatment customization while reducing the overall data processing load.
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 allows for personalized and effective delivery of alternating electric fields to tumors by optimizing transducer placement and electric field distribution based on individual anatomical and tumor-specific characteristics, enhancing treatment efficacy.
Implementation Method 1
The alternating electric fields may disrupt cell division in cancer cells by inhibiting or reducing formation of intracellular protein structures, such as microtubules, where the subunit proteins (e.g., tubulin, septin) have large dipole moments to be influenced by the alternating electric fields.
Data Source
AI summary
System and methods for determining placement of a transducer array relative to a subject's head, which may be used in treating cancer in the subject, are provided. These techniques may include constructing, based on one or more images, a representation of the subject's head that includes information for a plurality of structures including one or more tumors positioned within the subject's brain. The representation of the subject's head may be used to calculate electric field propagation for one or more arrangements of a transducer array on a surface of the subject's head. These techniques may further include determining one or more rate of energy absorption distributions and/or one or more electric field distributions using the calculated electric field propagation for multiple arrangements of the transducer array. A rate of energy absorption distribution may indicate a rate of energy absorbed at the one or more tumors. An electric field distribution may indicate an amount of electric field at individual regions of the subject's brain that include the one or more tumors and span across the entirety of the subject's brain. Using the one or more rate of energy absorption distributions and/or the one or more electric field distributions, an indication of how to place the transducer array on the subject's head such that at least a portion of the one or more tumors are exposed to electric fields emitted by the transducer array may be generated.