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EP-4735096-A1 - TRANSDUCERS FOR DELIVERY OF TUMOR TREATING FIELDS AND CAPABLE OF REDUCING CREASING

EP4735096A1EP 4735096 A1EP4735096 A1EP 4735096A1EP-4735096-A1

Abstract

A transducer apparatus for delivering tumor treating fields to a subject's body, the transducer apparatus comprising: a substrate; 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, the array capable of delivering tumor treating fields to a subject's body; and a layer of anisotropic material positioned on a skin-facing side of the array; wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the layer of anisotropic material comprises an interior slit extending substantially along a longitudinal direction of the layer of anisotropic material, the interior slit is surrounded by anisotropic material, and no electrodes are in the interior slit.

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; 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, the array capable of delivering tumor treating fields to a subject’s body; and a layer of anisotropic material positioned on a skin-facing side of the array; wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the layer of anisotropic material comprises an interior slit extending substantially along a longitudinal direction of the layer of anisotropic material, the interior slit is surrounded by anisotropic material, and no electrodes are in the interior slit.
  2. 2. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the interior slit divides a first portion of the layer of anisotropic material from a second portion of the layer of anisotropic material, and the first portion and the second portion have an approximately same size and an approximately same shape.
  3. 3. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the interior slit is situated along a centerline running through a longest dimension of the layer of anisotropic material.
  4. 4. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the interior slit comprises approximately 0.5% to approximately 10% of a surface area of the layer of anisotropic material.
  5. 5. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the interior slit is approximately 0.5 mm to approximately 10.0 mm wide.
  6. 6. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array, the interior slit is approximately 1.0 cm to approximately 10.0 cm long.
  7. 7. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the anisotropic material is a sheet of graphite.
  8. 8. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the transducer, the layer of anisotropic material, or 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.
  9. 9. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially non-planar, wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, and wherein a substantially circular opening is formed by an opening at a truncated portion of the truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone.
  10. 10. The transducer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises an interior slit extending substantially along a longitudinal direction of the layer of the substrate, the interior slit is surrounded by the substrate, and no electrodes are in the interior slit, wherein the layer of anisotropic material comprises an interior slit extending substantially along a longitudinal direction of the layer of the substrate, wherein the interior slit in the layer of anisotropic material and the interior slit in the substrate are coincident forming a combined interior slit, and no electrodes are in the combined interior slit.
  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, when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the face of the array and when the transducer apparatus is substantially planar, the transducer apparatus has a substantially pear-shaped or rounded triangularshaped surface having an opening located towards a wider portion of the substantially pear- shaped or rounded triangular- shaped surface, the substrate comprises an interior slit extending substantially along a longitudinal direction of the substrate, and no electrodes are in the interior slit.
  12. 12. The transducer apparatus of claim 11, 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.
  13. 13. The transducer apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially non-planar, wherein the transducer apparatus is substantially shaped as a truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone, and wherein a substantially circular opening is formed by an opening at a truncated portion of the truncated elliptical paraboloid or truncated oblique cone.
  14. 14. The transducer apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transducer apparatus further comprises a layer of anisotropic material on a skin-facing side of the array.
  15. 15. The transducer apparatus of claim 14, wherein the layer of anisotropic material is a sheet of graphite.

Description

TRANSDUCERS FOR DELIVERY OF TUMOR TREATING FIELDS AND CAPABLE OF REDUCING CREASING CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/524,586, filed June 30, 2023 and U.S. Patent Application No. 18/757,028 filed June 27, 2024, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/524,561, 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. 3 depicts a top view of two example transducers. [0005] FIG. 4 A depicts a top view of two example transducers. [0006] FIG. 4B depicts an example transducer of FIG. 4A applied to an example breast site. [0007] FIG. 5 depicts a top view of two example transducers. [0008] FIG. 6 depicts a top view of an example transducer. [0009] FIG. 7 depicts a top view of an example transducer. [0010] FIG. 8 depicts two transducers after removal from a subject. [0011] FIG. 9 depicts two transducers after removal from a subject. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [0012] This application describes exemplary transducers (or transducer apparatuses) used to deliver TTFields to a subject’s body for treating one or more cancers. [0013] The inventors have recognized that a transducer used to deliver TTFields to a subject may exhibit creasing when applied to and worn by a subject. The creasing of the transducer may occur and even be more pronounced when the transducer is located on a curved part of the subject (e.g., a breast or a head) and/or on a part of a subject having substantial movement (e.g., an upper torso). Although not limited to transducers comprising a layer of anisotropic material (such as, for example, a sheet of graphite), the issue of creasing of the transducer may be more pronounced in this case because of the relative inflexibility of the layer of anisotropic material. The creasing of the transducer may affect the ability of the transducer to deliver a recommended dosage of TTFields to the subject. [0014] The inventors have recognized that a need exists to reduce creasing of a transducer used to deliver TTFields to a subject. The inventors have discovered that a transducer with one or more interior slits may reduce creasing of the transducer. [0015] Different types of transducers are described herein. Each of the embodiments disclosed herein may be used for one or more of the transducer types described herein. [0016] FIGS. 1A and IB depict an example of transducers positioned at locations on a subject’s body for delivery of TTFields. FIG. 1A depicts a first transducer 100 located on the front of the subject’s right breast and a second transducer 102 located on the front of the subject’s left thigh. FIG. IB depicts a third transducer 104 located on the left side of the subject’s upper back and a fourth transducer 106 located on the back of the subject’s right thigh. Each of the transducers 100, 102, 104, and 106 may include one or more electrode elements located on a surface that is flexible for contouring the transducer to the subject’s body. The transducers 100, 102, 104, and 106 may be capable of delivering TTFields to the subject’s body. [0017] Similarly, FIGS. 2A and 2B depict another example of transducers positioned at locations on a subject’s body for delivery of TTFields. FIG. 2A depicts a first transducer 200 located on the front of the subject’s right thorax and a second transducer 202 located on the front of the subject’s left thigh. FIG. 2B depicts a third transducer 204 located on the left side of the subject’s upper back and a fourth transducer 206 located on the back of the subject’s right thi