Granted Patent B2

US 12,649,056 · App. 16/166,957 · Granted Jun 9, 2026

Inventors: Brian L. Schmidt (White Bear Lake, MN); Jacob M. Ludwig (Isanti, MN); Benjamin J. Haasl (Forest Lake, MN); Michael J. Kane (St. Paul, MN)

Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.

A61N1/36002A61N1/0408A61N1/0424A61N1/05A61N1/06A61N1/32A61N1/37247A61N1/36031A61N1/36132A61N1/37229

Abstract

Claims (15)

1 . A medical device comprising:

an electric field generating circuit configured to generate two or more electric fields; and

control circuitry in communication with the electric field generating circuit, the control circuitry configured to control delivery of the two or more electric fields from the electric field generating circuit; and

one or more leads in electrical communication with the electric field generating circuit, wherein each of the one or more leads comprise four or more electrodes disposed along a length of each of the one or more leads;

wherein the control circuitry causes the electric field generating circuit to generate the two or more electric fields at frequencies selected from a range of between 10 kHz to 1 MHz at a site of a cancerous tumor located within a bodily tissue, wherein the two or more electric fields are effective to prevent and/or disrupt cellular mitosis in a cancerous cell;

wherein the two or more electric fields are delivered along more than one vector between at least two pairs of the four or more electrodes surrounding the cancerous tumor, wherein a first pair of the four or more electrodes is positioned between a second pair of the four or more electrodes such that the second pair of the four or more electrodes has a broader electric field reach than the first pair of the four or more electrodes; and

wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate the two or more electric fields having an electrical waveform alternating between positive pulses and negative pulses, the waveform including one or more OFF time periods between at least some adjacent positive and negative pulses, wherein the positive pulses and negative pulses are relative to a bias voltage between −5 V and 5 V and the one or more OFF time periods is defined by an electrical potential equal to the bias voltage.

2 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the electric field generating circuit generates the two or more electric fields at frequencies selected from a range of between 100 kHz to 300 kHz.

3 . The medical device of claim 1 , the medical device further comprising an electric field sensing circuit, the electric field sensing circuit comprising a first sensing electrode and a second sensing electrode, wherein the electric field sensing circuit is configured to measure an electrical potential difference between the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode.

4 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate the two or more electric fields with a waveform representing a superposition of at least two frequencies at least 10% different from one another.

5 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate the two or more electric fields by stepping through one or more frequencies, wherein stepping through the one or more frequencies includes a first predetermined dwell time at a first frequency, and a second predetermined dwell time at a second frequency.

6 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate the two or more electric fields having one or more programmable electric field strengths, wherein the one or more programmable electric field strengths are selected from a range of electric field strengths from 3 V/cm to 5 V/cm.

7 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate the two or more electric fields having two or more programmable electric field strengths and to alternate between generating electric field strengths of greater than 10 V/cm to generating electric field strengths of between 2 V/cm to 10 V/cm.

8 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate the two or more electric fields by sweeping through one or more electric fields comprising one or more electric field strengths, wherein sweeping through the two or more electric fields comprising one or more electric field strengths includes sweeping from a first electric field strength up to a second electric field strength and sweeping from the second electric field strength down to the first electric field strength, wherein the second electric field strength is higher than the first electric field strength.

9 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate the two or more electric fields by using a voltage control mode, the voltage control mode including modulating voltage in order to produce a desired electric field strength, or by using a current control mode, the current control mode including modulating current in order to produce a desired electric field strength, wherein the control circuit is further configured to adjust the current to maintain a substantially constant electric field strength.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (400)