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EP-4735095-A1 - TRANSDUCER ARRAYS CAPABLE OF ASSUMING A SUBSTANTIALLY CONICAL SHAPE

EP4735095A1EP 4735095 A1EP4735095 A1EP 4735095A1EP-4735095-A1

Abstract

A transducer apparatus for delivering tumor treating fields to a subject's body, the transducer apparatus comprising: a substrate; and an array of at least one electrode disposed on the substrate, the array configured to be positioned over the subject's body with a face of the array facing the subject's body; wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially non-planar, wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid, truncated oblique cone, or truncated cone, and a substantially circular opening is formed by an opening at a truncated portion of the truncated elliptical paraboloid, truncated oblique cone, or truncated cone.

Inventors

  • HALAVEE, Noa
  • YAACOBI, Elie

Assignees

  • Novocure GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240628

Claims (15)

  1. 1. A transducer apparatus for delivering tumor treating fields to a subject’s body, the transducer apparatus comprising: a substrate; and an array of at least one electrode disposed on the substrate, the array configured to be positioned over the subject’s body with a face of the array facing the subject’s body; wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the substrate has a substantially pear-shaped or rounded triangular- shaped surface having an opening located towards a wider portion of the substantially pear-shaped or rounded triangular- shaped surface, and no electrodes are in the opening, wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially planar, wherein the transducer apparatus is capable of being deformed from being substantially planar to being non-planar and substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, wherein when the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, a substantially circular opening is formed by the opening at a truncated portion of the truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone.
  2. 2. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array and when the transducer apparatus is substantially planar, the transducer apparatus comprises a first end portion separated from a second end portion by a gap, wherein when the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, the first end portion abuts, touches, or overlaps the second end portion.
  3. 3. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array and when the transducer apparatus is substantially planar, the substrate includes a slit between an exterior edge of the substrate and an edge of the opening, wherein the slit separates a first end portion of the transducer apparatus from a second end portion of the transducer apparatus, wherein when the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, the first end portion overlaps the second end portion.
  4. 4. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array and when the transducer apparatus is substantially planar, the substrate has at least one concave edge defining the opening between two opposing sides of the substrate, and the opening defines a substantially C-shaped surface at the wider portion of the substantially pear-shaped or rounded triangular- shaped surface.
  5. 5. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a second substrate separate from the substrate; wherein the second substrate is substantially C-shaped, wherein when the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, the substantially circular opening is defined by the opening and the substantially C-shaped second substrate; and, optionally, wherein a second array of at least one electrode is disposed on the second substrate, the second array configured to be positioned over the subject’s body with a face of the second array facing the subject’s body.
  6. 6. The transducer apparatus of claim 5, wherein when the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, each end portion of the substantially C-shaped second substrate overlaps separate portions of the substrate.
  7. 7. The transducer apparatus of claim 5, wherein the array and the second array are electrically connected.
  8. 8. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substantially circular opening coincides with a first location on a subject, wherein the first location comprises a nipple, and no electrodes of the transducer array are located over the nipple.
  9. 9. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a layer of anisotropic material on a skin-facing side of the array.
  10. 10. The transducer apparatus of claim 9, wherein the anisotropic material is a sheet of graphite.
  11. 11. A transducer apparatus for delivering tumor treating fields to a subject’s body, the transducer apparatus comprising: a substrate; and an array of at least one electrode disposed on the substrate, the array configured to be positioned over the subject’s body with a face of the array facing the subject’s body; wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially non-planar, wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid, truncated oblique cone, or truncated cone, and a substantially circular opening is formed by an opening at a truncated portion of the truncated elliptical paraboloid, truncated oblique cone, or truncated cone.
  12. 12. The transducer apparatus of claim 11, wherein the substantially circular opening coincides with a first location on a subject, wherein the first location comprises a nipple, and no electrodes of the transducer array are located over the nipple.
  13. 13. The transducer apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a layer of anisotropic material on a skin-facing side of the array.
  14. 14. The transducer apparatus of claim 13, wherein the anisotropic material is a sheet of graphite.
  15. 15. A computer-implemented method to determine a shape and placement of transducers on a subject’s body for applying tumor treating fields, the computer comprising one or more processors and memory accessible by the one or more processors, the memory storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computer to perform the method, the method comprising: determining a target region in the subject’s body to apply tumor treating fields; selecting a first location on the subject’s body for placement of a first transducer apparatus and a second location on the subject’s body for placement of a second transducer apparatus, based on one or more simulations of an electric field distribution through the target region in the subject’s body; selecting a first transducer apparatus based on the first location intersecting a breast area of the subject’s body; selecting a second transducer apparatus for the second location; and outputting the first transducer apparatus, the first location, the second transducer apparatus, and the second location to a user, wherein the first transducer apparatus is substantially non-planar, wherein the first transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid, truncated oblique cone, or truncated cone, and a substantially circular opening is formed at a truncated portion of the truncated elliptical paraboloid, truncated oblique cone, or truncated cone.

Description

TRANSDUCER ARRAYS CAPABLE OF ASSUMING A SUBSTANTIALLY CONICAL SHAPE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/524,561, filed June 30, 2023 and U.S. Patent Application No. 18/756,587, filed June 27, 2024, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/524,586, filed June 30, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND [0002] Tumor treating fields (TTFields) are low intensity alternating electric fields within the intermediate frequency range (for example, 50 kHz to 1 MHz), which may be used to treat tumors as described in U.S. Patent No. 7,565,205. In current commercial systems, TTFields are induced non-invasively into the region of interest by electrode assemblies (e.g., arrays of capacitively coupled electrodes, also called electrode arrays, transducer arrays or simply “transducers”) placed on the patient’s body and applying alternating current (AC) voltages between the transducers. Conventionally, a first pair of transducers and a second pair of transducers are placed on the subject’s body. AC voltage is applied between the first pair of transducers for a first interval of time to generate an electric field with field lines generally running in the front-back direction. Then, AC voltage is applied at the same frequency between the second pair of transducers for a second interval of time to generate an electric field with field lines generally running in the right-left direction. The system then repeats this two-step sequence throughout the treatment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0003] FIGS. 1A, IB, 2A, and 2B depict examples of transducers located on a subject’s body for delivery of TTFields. [0004] FIG. 3A depicts a top view of two example transducers. [0005] FIG. 3B depicts a transducer of FIG. 3A applied to an example breast site. [0006] FIG. 4 A depicts a top view of two example transducers. [0007] FIG. 4B depicts a transducer of FIG. 4A applied to an example breast site. [0008] FIGS. 5 A and 5B depict a top view of an example transducer. [0009] FIGS. 5C and 5D depict a top view of an example transducer. [0010] FIG. 6A depicts a top view of an example transducer. [0011] FIG. 6B depicts the transducer of FIG. 6A applied to an example breast site. [0012] FIG. 6C depicts a top view of an example transducer. [0013] FIG. 6D depicts the transducer of FIG. 6C applied to an example breast site. [0014] FIG. 7 depicts an example system to apply alternating electric fields to the subject’s body. [0015] FIG. 8 depicts an example computer apparatus. [0016] FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting an example method of determining shape and placement of transducers on a subject’s body for applying TTFields. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [0017] This application describes exemplary transducers (or transducer apparatuses) used to apply TTFields to a subject’s body for treating one or more cancers. [0018] Transducers used to apply TTFields to a subject’s body often include multiple electrode elements electrically coupled together on a substrate and attached to the subject’s body at a desired location, for example, via an adhesive backing of the substrate or a separately applied adhesive. Transducers may have large, rectangular surfaces so as to maximize a number of electrode elements that are located on the transducer for applying TTFields to the subject’s body. As recognized by the inventors, such transducers may not desirably attach to portions of a subject having a non-planar surface, such as a breast. [0019] The inventors have now recognized that a need exists for transducers that can conform to three-dimensional structures of a subject’s body. For example, transducers may be structured to surround, conform, adapt to, or be positioned on or around a breast of a subject and/or a chemotherapy port of a subject. In some embodiments described herein, transducers may be capable of being deformed from being substantially planar to being substantially conical, such as a substantially truncated elliptical paraboloid, a substantially truncated oblique cone, or a substantially truncated cone, or the like. When situated around a breast site, for example, a substantially circular opening may be formed by an opening at a truncated portion of the truncated elliptical paraboloid, truncated oblique cone, or truncated cone, for example, to avoid coverage of a subject’s nipple. When situated around a chemotherapy port, for example, the chemotherapy port may be located within an opening of the transducer, where the transducer may have a single part or a plurality of parts to form the opening. [0020] The system described herein further provides a practical method to determine a shape and placement of transducers on a subject’s body for applying tumor treating fields. For example, a computer-based system may select a first location on the subject’s bo