Patent Description:
Electromagnetic waves are used to treat tumors, with the effects depending on the frequency of the waves. X-rays, which have a frequency of about <NUM><NUM> MHz, treat cancers by breaking the DNA double helix of cancer cells, causing cell death. By contrast, application of electromagnetic waves with frequencies in the range of about <NUM> to tumors in the human body produces heat inside the tumors.

Tumor therapy using electromagnetic waves in the range of <NUM> to <NUM> is known as Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields). This technology treats tumors by delaying cell division to induce cell death. Although introduced less than <NUM> years ago, TTFields is currently used to treat patients in about <NUM> treatment centers worldwide.

Although TTFields greatly affects cells that are dividing, it has little effect on normal cells that divide more slowly than tumor cells or on cells that virtually do not divide. Only a few studies to date have described the effects of TTFields on normal cells or the effects of electric fields on each major organ in the human body. Additionally, because this technology has been used for only <NUM> years, the potential risks of long-term side effects remain unclear.

Current treatment involves placing the electrodes at positions to apply maximal electric fields to tumors, while, at the same time, applying minimal electric fields to normal tissues. However, the same voltage is applied to all electrodes, which may result in the unnecessary application of electric fields to normal tissues.

Accordingly, the present disclosure describes an apparatus for applying alternating electric fields therapy to treat tumors and a method for planning therapy. In this method, not only the position of the electrodes but the voltage applied to each is calculated through an optimization algorithm to further reduce electric fields unnecessarily transmitted to normal tissues.

<CIT> discloses an apparatus and a method to compute the optimal spatial and temporal characteristics for combating tumor growth within a body on the basis of cytological (as provided by biopsies, etc.) and anatomical data (as provided by CT, MRI, PET, etc.), as well as the electric properties of the different elements. On the basis of this computation, the apparatus applies the fields that have maximal effect on the tumor and minimal effect on all other tissues by adjusting both the field generator output characteristics and by optimal positioning of the insulated electrodes or isolects on the patient's body.

<CIT> discloses a method comprising receiving images of a body area of a patient, identifying abnormal tissue in the image, generating a data set with the abnormal tissue masked out, deforming a model template in space so that features in the deformed model template line up with corresponding features in the data set, placing data representing the abnormal tissue back into the deformed model template, generating a model of electrical properties of tissues in the body area based on the deformed and modified model template, and determining an electrode placement layout that maximizes field strength in the abnormal tissue by using the model of electrical properties to simulate electromagnetic field distributions in the body area caused by simulated electrodes placed respective to the body area.

In the following any method of treatment is not claimed and disclosed for illustrative purposes only.

The present disclosure describes an apparatus and method for alternating electric fields therapy using an algorithm that optimizes the magnitude of the electric fields applied to tumors while minimizing the electric field intensity applied to normal tissues.

The objective of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned objective, and other objectives not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

To achieve the above-described objective, an apparatus for alternating electric fields therapy to treat tumors in a patient is required. This apparatus applies electric fields to tumors and normal tissues using one or more pairs of electrode pads, with most of these electrodes being arranged according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This includes an image classifier to classify at least one organ in patient imaging of each organ, as well as an electric field optimizer to set the number and position of the applied individual electrodes, based on the classification of tissues as tumors or normal tissues. These electrodes are arranged on electrode pads of preset sizes, and the magnitudes of voltage for the set electrodes determined. The electric field optimizer determines an individual electric field intensity based on the following equation below <MAT> and calculates the electric field based on following equation <MAT> wherein Ei is the electric field intensity value at the ith position, wj is the weighting of the jth electrode, eij is the electric field intensity transmitted to the ith position by the jth electrode, and E<NUM> is the prescribed electric field intensity.

The electric field optimizer can set the magnitude of the voltage applied to most electrodes based on least one of the tumor types to be treated, the position of these tumors, and the boundary conditions with normal tissues.

This electric field optimizer can calculate the magnitude of the voltage to be applied to the tumors, with this voltage being at least the prescribed electric field intensity, while applying a minimal electric field intensity to normal organs.

This electric field optimizer can set the electric field limit value according to the importance of the organs, thereby allowing the electrodes to transmit the preset or lower electric field limit value.

This electric field optimizer can have an object function, which is set using the intensity of at least one of the electric fields transmitted to tumors or normal organs, with a weighting for each normal organ or an electric field limit value.

One pair of electrode pads can form a ground.

This method for planning therapy to treat tumors in patients by applying electric fields to the tumors and normal tissues involves one or more pairs of electrode pads, with most electrodes being arranged according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This method includes patient imaging and classifying the image for each organ, creating at least one treatment plan by arranging the number and position of electrodes on the electrode pads of a preset size based on the tumors in the patient and the boundary conditions between the tumors and normal tissues. The magnitude of the voltage applied to most of the electrodes is set using an electric field optimizer. Each formulated treatment plan is subsequently analyzed and evaluated. The electric field optimizer determines an individual electric field intensity based on the following equation below <MAT> and calculates the electric field based on following equation <MAT> wherein Ei is the electric field intensity value at the ith position, wj is the weighting of the jth electrode, eij is the electric field intensity transmitted to the ith position by the jth electrode, and E<NUM> is the prescribed electric field intensity.

The magnitude of voltage applied to the electrodes can be calculated using an electric field optimizer to apply prescribed or higher electric fields to the tumors and minimal electric fields to normal tissues.

The voltage applied to the electrodes can be between <NUM> V and <NUM> V and the frequency between <NUM> and <NUM>.

The magnitude of the voltage to be applied to the electrodes can be determined based on the magnitude of the electric fields prescribed for the tumors, the weighting assigned to each organ and/or the preset electric field limit.

The apparatus and method for alternating electric fields therapy using an optimization algorithm, as described in the present disclosure, apply different electric fields to tumors and normal tissues. The voltage applied to each electrode using the optimization algorithm was designed to reduce the magnitude of electric fields transmitted to the normal tissues, so that it was less than the magnitude applied to the tumors, thereby reducing the risk of side effects of treatment and increasing the probability of treatment success.

The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Identical symbols represent identical elements in the accompanying drawings. Detailed descriptions of known functions and elements that make the subject matter of the present disclosure ambiguous are omitted. Similarly, some elements are exaggerated, omitted or shown schematically in the accompanying drawings.

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, "comprises" specifies the presence of stated elements but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements. In addition, throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as being "on" another element, it indicates that the element is disposed on or below the other element, but it does not necessarily indicate the gravitational direction.

<FIG> shows a conceptual diagram of an apparatus for alternating electric fields therapy using an optimization algorithm, as embodied in the present disclosure, and <FIG> shows a conceptual diagram showing the arrangement of electrodes of an apparatus for alternating electric fields as describe in the present disclosure.

With reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, the apparatus for alternating electric fields using an optimization algorithm, as embodied in the present disclosure, is configured to treat tumors in a patient by applying voltage to form separate electric fields in tumors and normal tissues. This apparatus includes a pair of electrode pads <NUM>, an image classifier <NUM> and an electric field optimizer <NUM>.

The pair of electrode pads <NUM> includes most of the electrodes <NUM>, which are variously arranged according to the shape of the electrode pads <NUM>. Although <FIG> shows the electrodes <NUM> arranged in a <NUM> × <NUM> matrix, as illustrated, the numbers of electrodes <NUM> and the interval between them may be modified through the electric field optimizer <NUM>, as described below. The shape and arrangement are not limited to those shown in <FIG>. Although two pairs of electrode pads <NUM> are shown, the number of electrode pads <NUM> may increase or decrease depending on the patient's treatment conditions.

The magnitudes of the electric fields transmitted to the tumors and normal tissues can be altered by arranging the configuration of the electrodes <NUM> to adjust the applied frequency and voltage, thereby providing effective treatment based on the boundary conditions between a patient's tumors and normal tissues. For example, the pair of electrode pads <NUM> may form the ground G on one of the pair.

The image classifier <NUM> serves to classify at least one organ in a patient's image. This image may be a magnetic resonance (MR) or computed tomography (CT) image. Each MR or CT image includes the tumors together with a variety of organs. In this instance, the image classifier <NUM> classifies most of the images for each organ, and determines the distance between normal tissues and tumors along with their positional relationships. The image classifier <NUM> may use the data to adjust the size of the pair of electrode pads <NUM> or the arrangement of the electrodes by automatically classifying them according to the organ or by setting the boundaries for each organ according to the user definition. The image classifier <NUM> can reconstruct each image into a <NUM>-dimensional image of each organ and clearly determine their positional relationships.

The electric field optimizer <NUM> sets the number and position of applied electrodes based on the classified tumors and normal tissues, arranges the electrodes on electrode pads <NUM> of preset size, and determines the magnitudes of voltage for the set electrodes. That is, the electric field optimizer <NUM> sets the magnitude of voltage applied to the electrodes by considering the classified tumors and normal tissues and the conditions of the tumors.

The electric field optimizer <NUM> can set the magnitude of voltage applied to the electrodes by considering at least one of the types of tumors to be treated, the position of the tumors, and the boundary conditions between the tumors and normal tissues. In this instance, the electric field optimizer <NUM> can set the electrode weighting as a variable, divide most of the electrodes into those applying voltage and a ground electrode, and set the frequency of most of the electrodes depending on the type of tumors. For example, the weighting and voltage of each electrode can be calculated by setting the frequency to <NUM> for glioblastomas and <NUM> for lung cancers.

Thus, when transmitting the adjusted electric fields into the body, different electric fields are applied to tumors and normal tissues, thereby reducing the magnitude of electric fields transmitted to normal tissues so that they are lower than the magnitude transmitted to tumors, reducing the risk of side effects of treatment and increasing the probability of treatment success.

The electric field optimizer <NUM> can have an object function that is set based on the intensity of at least one of the electric fields transmitted to the tumors or the normal organs, the weighting assigned to each normal organ or the electric field limit. Additionally, the electric field optimizer <NUM> can set the electric field limit according to the importance of organs, allowing the electrodes to transmit the preset or lower electric field. Here, the electric field limit refers to the range of electric fields set to prevent the preset or higher electric field intensity from being transmitted to normal organs.

When electric fields intensities equal to or higher than those prescribed are applied to the tumors, the object function can adjust the electric field intensity to apply minimal electric fields to the major organs of normal tissues. Here, the prescribed electric field is the magnitude of electric fields for transmitting a predetermined or higher electric field intensity to the total volume of the tumors, and the electric field limit is the magnitude of electric fields for transmitting the predetermined or lower electric field intensity to the total volume of the normal organs.

For example, in alternating electric fields therapy, a treatment plan can be created through optimization to apply a prescribed electric field intensity of <NUM> V/cm to tumors and transmit an electric field intensity limit of ≤<NUM> V/cm to the total volume of major organs. In this instance, the average electric field intensity is the average transmitted to one organ, with the same electric field not transmitted to all parts of that organ. Because the transmitted electric field intensity is different for each microvolume, the average electric field intensity is determined for individual organs.

After setting an electric field at position Ei, spaced a predetermined distance from the tumor, as in Equation <NUM>, the electric field intensity can be calculated from the conditions shown in Equations <NUM> to <NUM>.

Here, Ei is the electric field intensity value at the ith position, wj is the weighting of the jth electrode, and eij is the electric field intensity transmitted to the ith position by the jth electrode.

Equation <NUM> calculates electric fields based on the prescribed electric field intensity.

Here, E<NUM> is the prescribed electric field intensity.

Equation <NUM> calculates electric fields based on the object function f, considering that the weighting was dependent on the importance of organs and the electric field intensity limit of normal organs. The electric field intensity limit is a constant that differs depending on the importance of organs.

Here, WN is the weighting for each organ and <MAT> is the electric field intensity limit for the Nth normal organ.

Equation <NUM> calculates electric fields by considering the weighting for each organ and the average electric field intensity of the Nth normal organ.

Where WN is the weighting for each organ and <MAT> is the average electric field intensity of the Nth normal organ.

As such, the object function for calculating the electric fields acting on normal organs is not limited to the above Equation and differs depending on the type and position of tumors.

The present disclosure sets the electric field based on a voltage of <NUM> V to <NUM> V applied to the electrodes and a frequency of <NUM> to <NUM>, as well as on the position of the tumors and the importance of each organ. This electric field intensity is converted to the voltage applied to the electrodes.

The voltage range of <NUM> V to <NUM> V may be similar to the range used for conventional treatment apparatuses, but the present disclosure sets the arrangement and position of the electrodes by considering the position of the tumors and normal organs and their relationship, and applies different magnitudes of therapeutic and general electric fields to most of the electrodes, preventing damage to normal tissues.

<FIG> shows a flowchart of a method for alternating electric fields therapy using an optimization algorithm according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This method treats tumors in a patient by transmitting electric fields to the tumors and normal tissues using one or more pairs of electrode pads that include most of the electrodes.

First, an image is retrieved based on imaging of the patient, and the retrieved image is classified for each organ (S100). Organs may be classified more effectively according to their importance by setting the resolution range for each organ individually.

Subsequently, at least one treatment plan is created by arranging the number and position of electrodes on the electrode pads of a preset size, based on the patient's tumors and the boundary conditions between the tumors and normal tissues, and by setting the magnitude of voltage applied to most electrodes through the electric field optimizer (S200). In this example, three or more treatment plans can be created, with these plans adapted for different sizes and numbers of electrodes.

Although the electrodes can be arranged in a matrix (<FIG>), they can also be arranged in other configurations; for example, asymmetrically or at different intervals. In this example, the pair of electrodes facing each other may be placed at the same position. Additionally, the applied voltage and frequency may differ between tumors and normal tissues, with voltages ranging from <NUM> V to <NUM> V and frequencies from <NUM> to <NUM>.

The created treatment plans are analyzed and evaluated (S300). The conditions for optimal results may be determined by individually analyzing and evaluating each of the treatment plans.

Finally, the patient is treated by applying the set voltage to most of the electrodes under the optimal conditions determined by the analyzed treatment plans (S400).

<FIG> and <FIG> show diagrams comparing simulations by an apparatus for alternating electric fields therapy using an optimization algorithm, as embodied in the present disclosure, and the conventional method.

<FIG> shows the electric field distributions when the same voltage is applied to all electrodes in the conventional manner (before) and when different voltages are applied to the electrodes using the electric field optimizer (after).

Two pictures below the arrow in <FIG> show an enlarged simulation of the throat. The red color, indicating high electric field intensity, shows that this intensity is reduced when different magnitudes of voltages are applied using the electric field optimizer.

Table <NUM> lists the findings of a quantitative analysis of the results shown in <FIG>. V<NUM>, V<NUM> and V<NUM> denote the relative volumes to which <NUM>% (<NUM> V/cm × <NUM> = <NUM> V/cm), <NUM>% and <NUM>% of the prescribed electric field intensity, respectively, are transmitted, and Eave denotes the average electric field intensity transmitted to organs. Comparisons before and after the application of the electric field optimizer show that the optimizer reduces the electric field intensity transmitted to major organs.

<FIG> shows the electric field distributions when the same voltage is applied to all electrodes in the conventional manner (before) and when different voltages are applied to the electrodes using the optimization algorithm (after).

Assessments of the kidneys show that the area of red color, indicating high electric field intensity, is smaller after than before applying the optimization algorithm.

Table <NUM> lists the findings of a quantitative analysis of the results in <FIG>, showing that the indicator values are all reduced after application of the electric field optimizer. That is, the electric field intensity transmitted to normal organs is greatly reduced after application of the electric field optimizer.

Claim 1:
An apparatus for alternating electric fields therapy using an optimization algorithm to treat tumors in a patient by applying electric fields to the tumors and normal tissues using one or more pairs of electrode pads containing most of the electrodes, the apparatus consisting of:
an image classifier configured to classify at least one organ on patient imaging; and
an electric field optimizer configured to create a treatment plan by setting the number and position of the applied individual electrodes based on the classifications of the tumors and normal tissues, arranging the electrodes on the electrode pads of preset size, and determining the magnitudes of voltage to apply to the electrodes, wherein the electric field optimizer is configured to determine an individual electric field intensity based on the following equation below <MAT> and configured to calculate the electric field based on following equation <MAT>
wherein Ei is the electric field intensity value at the ith position, wj is the weighting of the jth electrode, eij is the electric field intensity transmitted to the ith position by the jth electrode, and E<NUM> is the prescribed electric field intensity.