IRE ablation combined with immunotherapy to attack metastases
This technology uses a precisely controlled electrical pulse technique called irreversible electroporation (IRE) to destroy tumor cells in a targeted zone within the body, then combines that destruction with immunotherapy drugs to trigger the immune system to attack cancer that has spread elsewhere. The electrical pulses kill cells in a way that releases tumor antigens, essentially turning the treated site into an in-situ vaccine that the added immunotherapy amplifies. The combination is designed to address not just the primary tumor but distant metastases that surgery or radiation alone cannot reach. The specific pulse parameters — short duration, high voltage, high frequency — are engineered to maximize immune activation rather than just local tissue destruction.
What you could build
A clinical protocol and accompanying device system combining an IRE catheter/probe with an adjunct immunotherapy regimen, sold to oncology centers and interventional radiology departments treating solid tumors with metastatic spread; device makers like Medtronic or AngioDynamics and pharma companies with checkpoint inhibitor portfolios would be the natural commercial partners or licensees.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based cancer centers, INOVA Health System, and defense-adjacent biomedical device companies in the Northern Virginia corridor would have interest; the NIH proximity also makes this relevant to federal research partnerships.
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
- Rafael V. Davalos, John H. Rossmeisl, Paulo A. Garcia
- Granted
- November 10, 2020
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 10828085
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.