Hyperthermia implants and a method and system for heating the implant
AssigneeEndomagnetics Ltd
InventorsQuentin John Harmer, Tiziano Agostinelli, Kevin Lorimer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hyperthermia implant 20 for hyperthermia treatment of tissue 30 of a human or animal body. The implant comprises at least one piece of a large Barkhausen jump material (LBJ) and a magnetic field may be applied to the implant to heat the surrounding tissue. The implant may also be deployed to mark a tissue site in the body for subsequent surgery, thereby providing a combined system for locating an implant and treating the surrounding area. The system includes a handheld probe 14 to excite the implant below the switching field for bistable switching causing a harmonic response to be generated in a sub-bistable mode that allows the implant to be detected and localised.
Claims20
A hyperthermia system for heating an implant in a tissue of a body, the system comprising:
- at least one drive coil arranged to excite the implant with an alternating magnetic field;
- at least one microwire, wherein the at least one microwire is arranged in a three-edged or four-edged tetrahedral shape;
- and
- a magnetic field generator arranged to drive the alternating magnetic field or current through the at least one drive coil,
- the implant comprising a heat source provided by at least one piece of magnetic material provided in the implant, the magnetic material exhibiting a large Barkhausen jump (LBJ) in its magnetization curve, and wherein the implant is configured to provide a uniform heating output from the implant that is independent of the orientation of the implant relative to the direction of the alternating magnetic field,
- wherein excitation of the heat source at a frequency of 30-750 kHz provides hyperthermia treatment of a tissue surrounding the implant that is independent of an orientation of the implant with respect to a longitudinal axis of the alternating magnetic field.
A method of hyperthermia treatment comprising
- implanting a hyperthermia implant in tissue of a human or animal body, the implant comprising at least one piece of magnetic material that exhibits a large Barkhausen jump (LBJ) in its magnetisation curve;
- and
- exciting the implant with an alternating magnetic field to provide hyperthermia treatment to a tissue surrounding the implant, wherein the implant is configured to provide a magnitude of heating that is independent of an orientation of the implant with respect to a longitudinal axis of the alternating magnetic field.
A hyperthermia system for heating an implant when implanted in a tissue of a body, the system comprising:
- the implant configured to generate a heat output when excited by a magnetic field, the implant comprising at least one magnetic microwire, the at least one magnetic microwire being formed of a large Barkhausen jump material, wherein the at least one magnetic microwire comprises a plurality of wire portions;
- and
- a magnetic field generator configured to generate the magnetic field having a direction of application, for exciting the implant in a sub-bistable mode;
- wherein the plurality of wire portions are arranged with respect to one another such that during excitation, for all orientations of the implant with respect to the magnetic field, at least one of the wire portions defines an axis, which is angled by no more than 60° to the direction of application of the magnetic field, so that the implant provides a uniform heat output independent of its orientation.
An implant for implanting in a tissue of a body, the implant comprising:
- at least one magnetic microwire, the at least one magnetic microwire being formed of a large Barkhausen jump material;
- wherein the implant is configured to generate a heat output when excited in a sub-bistable mode by a magnetic field having a direction of application;
- and
- wherein the at least one magnetic microwire comprises a plurality of wire portions;
- and wherein the plurality of wire portions are arranged with respect to one another such that during excitation, for all orientations of the implant with respect to the magnetic field, at least one of the wire portions defines an axis, which is angled by 60° or less to the direction of application of the magnetic field, in order that the implant provides a uniform heat output independent of its orientation.
A combined detection and hyperthermia system for locating and heating an implant when implanted in a tissue of a body, the combined system comprising:
- the implant, wherein the implant has a length, wherein the length is greater than or equal to 2 mm;
- a hyperthermia system comprising a magnetic field generator;
- at least one sense coil arranged to detect a signal received from the implant;
- and
- at least one detector associated with the at least one sense coil, the at least one detector configured to detect a harmonic response from the implant,
- the magnetic field generator being configured to generate a first magnetic field at a first frequency between 1-100 kHz to excite the implant for locating the implant in the tissue, and to generate a second magnetic field at a second, higher, frequency between 30-750 kHz to excite the implant for providing the heat output, the magnetic field having a direction of application for exciting the implant in a sub-bistable mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.