Pulsed electric field system for tumor margins
This technology uses carefully timed bursts of electrical pulses to kill cancer cells in two distinct ways around a tumor. Close to the electrodes, all cells are destroyed outright. But in a surrounding ring of tissue — the tumor margin — the pulse timing is tuned to disrupt the internal membranes of cancer cells specifically, killing them while leaving healthy cells intact. This is significant because microscopic cancer cells that have spread beyond a visible tumor are a leading cause of recurrence, and conventional approaches cannot distinguish them from healthy tissue.
What you could build
A medical device system — electrodes plus a pulse generator with programmable waveform control — used during or after tumor ablation procedures to treat the tumor margin. Likely buyers are interventional oncology device companies, surgical robotics platforms, and hospital cancer centers adopting image-guided ablation workflows.
Who in Virginia should care
Inova, VCU Health, and UVA Health all operate active oncology and interventional radiology programs; medical device commercialization partners or regional cancer center licensing deals are plausible.
Readiness: Lab validated
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
- —
- Granted
- November 12, 2019
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 102811
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.