Surgery: light – thermal – and electrical application – Light – thermal – and electrical application – Electrical therapeutic systems
Patent
1995-12-04
1997-10-07
Kamm, William E.
Surgery: light, thermal, and electrical application
Light, thermal, and electrical application
Electrical therapeutic systems
604 21, 607 3, A61N 118, A61N 120, A61N 130
Patent
active
056742673
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for applying electric pulses for the treatment of biological tissue. It is particularly intended for the implementation of electrochemotherapy.
2. Discussion of Background
Electrochemotherapy is a new therapeutic method that has been developed in particular for the treatment of cancers.
Indeed, it has been found that a certain number of active substances have difficulty in traversing the membrane of the cells that the are intended for.
To overcome this difficulty, it is often necessary to increase the doses of the substances provided, this often being difficult and nearly always having unwanted side effects.
It has recently been shown that the permeability of a cell's plasma membrane can be increased by applying electric pulses to the cell.
Electrochemotherapy takes advantage of this possibility by combining the injection of an active substance with the application of short, intense electric pulses. The penetration of the active substance into the cells subjected to the electric field is thus facilitated. Electrochemotherapy has, for example, been used to treat tumors using bleomycin. The antitumor effects of bleomycin combined with the electric pulses can be potentiated by injections of immunostimulants such as interleukines, for example interleukine-2, or injections of medicamentous compositions such as syngenic, allogenic or xenogenic cells that secrete interleukines, for example interleukine-2. The injection of these substances or compositions is especially effective if it is done locally at the level of the tumor, treated beforehand by electrochemotherapy.
The electric fields required to implement electrochemotherapy have, to date, been obtained by applying pulses between two external electrodes placed, as far as possible, on either side of the tumor to be treated.
The electrical contact of these electrodes with the skin is ensured by a conductive gel.
Such a technique is described, for example, in the "Compte-Rendu de I'Academie des Sciences de Paris" t.313, series III, pages 613-618, 1991: "L'electrochimiotherapie, un nouveau traitement antitumor: premier essai clinique" (Electrochemotherapy, a new antitumor treatment: first clinical trial) Lluis M. MIR et al.
The electrodes used to date for applying electric pulses cannot uniformly distribute the electric fields produced throughout the whole volume to be treated, and require, for the chemotherapeutic part, that the antitumor medicamentous product be injected into the patient's whole body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is an applicator which improves the distribution and control of electric fields produced for electrochemotherapy.
Another object of the invention is to propose an electric pulse applicator whose use avoids or limits the side effects produced.
A further object of the invention is to propose an electric pulse applicator for electrochemotherapy that may be used several times without causing unwanted lesions of healthy tissue close to the tumor, for example of the skin.
A further object of the invention is to propose a compact, sterilizable, autoclavable device capable of withstanding high voltage.
With this object in view, the invention therefore relates to an electric pulse applicator for the treatment of biological tissue allowing an electric field to be applied to cells of biological tissue so as to modify the properties of their membrane. This applicator comprises electrodes and a pulse generator.
According to the invention, the electrodes comprise at least three needles which are intended to be introduced into the tissue to be treated and to define a treatment volume, said needles forming in twos pairs of needles, and a needle selector switch which sends the pulses produced by the pulse generator successively onto the different pairs of needles.
According to different preferred embodiments, the electric pulse applicator for the treatment of biological tissue of the invention comprises the following characteristics, ta
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Compte Rendu Academie Des Sciences, vol 313, No. 111, Nov. 27, 1991, Paris, France, article entitled "L'electrochimiotherapie, un nouveau traitemente antitumoral: premier essai clinique"(Electrochemotherapy, a new antitumor treatment: first clinical trial).
Mir Lluis
Orlowski Stephane
Siros Michel
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Kamm William E.
Layno Carl H.
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