Thiol-michael addition hydrogel-based brachytherapy system and methods comprising the same
AssigneesUniversity of Virginia Patent Foundation, Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.
InventorsTimothy Norman Showalter, Timothy E. Long, Nicholas Moon
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Abstract
The invention relates generally to methods of using a thiol-Michael addition hydrogel for providing intracavitary brachytherapy and/or displacing tissue and organs. The thiol-Michael addition hydrogel may be used as a packing material and an attenuation material for intracavitary brachytherapy applications. The invention also relates generally to a brachytherapy applicator, which may be used in conjunction with the thiol-Michael addition hydrogel and methods thereof. The invention also relates to a positioning device system for providing intracavitary brachytherapy treatment and a kit thereof.
Claims22
A method providing pelvic brachytherapy, comprising:
- providing a brachytherapy applicator comprising a therapy delivery portion with one or more radioactive sources attached thereto,
- positioning the brachytherapy applicator at a static position in a pelvic cavity of the body,
- providing at least one container,
- positioning the at least one container inside the pelvic cavity,
- delivering a thiol-Michael addition hydrogel to the inside of the at least one container present inside the pelvic cavity,
- expanding the thiol-Michael addition hydrogel inside of the at least one container present inside the pelvic cavity to conform the at least one container to the pelvic cavity,
- displacing tissue and/or organs by the expanding thiol-Michael addition hydrogel,
- delivering the one or more radioactive sources to a target tissue region,
- optionally lowering the modulus of the thiol-Michael addition hydrogel inside of the at least one container present inside the pelvic cavity, and
- optionally extracting from the pelvic cavity the brachytherapy applicator and/or the at least one container that contains the thiol-Michael addition hydrogel,
- wherein the pelvic cavity is a vagina or a uterus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.