Cooled-electrode irreversible electroporation ablation device
This technology combines electrical pulses with active cooling to destroy tumor cells without generating harmful heat in surrounding tissue. Standard electroporation uses high-voltage electricity to kill cells, but the electrical energy can heat tissue and damage healthy areas nearby. This invention runs a cooling fluid through hollow chambers built into the electrode devices during the procedure, keeping temperatures controlled so that cell death is caused purely by the electrical disruption rather than thermal damage. The approach is designed for solid tumors, including brain tumors, where preserving surrounding healthy tissue is critical.
What you could build
A next-generation irreversible electroporation (IRE) ablation device with integrated fluid-cooling electrodes, sold to hospitals and interventional oncology centers performing minimally invasive tumor ablation—particularly neurosurgeons and interventional radiologists treating brain or other sensitive-site tumors.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia's academic medical centers (UVA Health, Inova) and the concentration of NIH-adjacent biomedical device companies in Northern Virginia would be natural partners or licensees for a clinical-stage ablation device.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Rafael V. Davalos, Paulo A. Garcia, John L. Robertson, John H. Rossmeisl, Robert E. Neal II
- Granted
- April 2, 2019
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 10245105
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.