Work

Evaluating the therapeutic effect of tumor treating fields (TTFields) by monitoring the impedance across TTFields electrode arrays

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), are a novel, non-invasive tissue ablation technology for treatment of cancer. Tissue ablation is achieved through the continuous delivery of a narrow range of electromagnetic fields across a tumor, for a period of months. TTFields are designed to affect only cells that divide and to interfere with the cell division process. The therapy is monitored with MRI imaging, performed every couple of months. Current technology is unable to assess the treatment effectiveness in real time. METHODS: anatomic skull experimental study, with brain and tumor mimics phantom tissues was conducted to confirm the potential value of the proposed monitoring system. RESULTS: Experiments show that measuring the change in the impedance amplitude between opposite TTFields electrode arrays, at a typical TTFields treatment frequency of (200 kHz), can detect changes in the tumor radius with a sensitivity that increases with the radius of the tumor. The study shows that TTFields electrode arrays can be used to assess the effectiveness of TTFields treatment on changes in the tumor dimensions in real time, throughout the treatement. This monitoring system may become a valuable addition to the TTFields cancer treatment technology. It could provide the means to continuously assess the effectiveness of the treatment, and thereby optimize the design of the treatment protocol.

Source: PeerJ

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12877

Authors: Xing Li, Moshe Oziel, Boris Rubinsky

Institutions: National University of Defense Technology, Tel Aviv University, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Electrical and Bioimpedance Tomography

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,395