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US 8,718,756 B2Granted
Optimizing characteristics of an electric field to increase the field's effect on proliferating cells
AssigneeNovocure GmbH
InventorYoram Palti
Life of this patent
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Abstract
AC electric fields at particular frequencies and field strengths have been shown to be effective for destroying rapidly proliferating cells such as cancer cells. The effectiveness of such fields is improved when the field is sequentially switched between two or more different directions. The effectiveness of such fields can be improved even further by choosing the rate at which the field is switched between the various directions.
Claims13
An apparatus for applying a therapeutic electric field to a target region, the apparatus comprising:
- a first pair of insulated electrodes, each electrode having a conductor and a surface configured for placement against a patient's body that is insulated from the conductor;
- a second pair of insulated electrodes, each electrode having a conductor and a surface configured for placement against a patient's body that is insulated from the conductor;
- a signal generator that generates a periodic control signal with first and second output states, the first and second output states each having a duration between 20 and 500 ms;
- an AC signal generator that generates a first AC signal across the conductors of the first pair of electrodes when the control signal is in the first output state and generates a second AC signal across the conductors of the second pair of electrodes when the control signal is in the second output state, the first and second AC signals having a frequency between 50 and 500 kHz.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.