MICROWAVE PHASED ARRAY FOR HYPERTHERMIA CANCER THERAPY

THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE MICROWAVEPHASED ARRAY APPLICATOR FOR LOCAL TUMOR HYPERTHERMIA THERAPY. THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF IONIZING RADIATION THERAPY CAN BE IMPROVED BY THE FOCUSED APPLICATIONOF HEAT TO THE TUMOR. THE USE OF MICROWAVES FOR THE GENERA-TION OF LOCAL HYPERTHERMIA HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED IN BOTH ANIMAL AND CLINICAL STUDIES. HOWEVER, CURRENT MICROWAVE APPLICATORS HEAT ONLY SUPERFICIAL TUMORS AND MUST BE MECHANICALLY MOVED IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE POWER DISTRIBUTION IN THE TUMOR AND SURROUNDING NORMAL TISSUES. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THIS PHASE I STUDY ARE TO DEVELOP NEW TECHNIQUES FOR PRODUCING LOCAL TUMOR HYPERTHERMIA USING MICROWAVES. PRELIMINARY STUDIES HAVE RESULTED IN A NEW DESIGN FOR A MICROWAVE PHASED ARRAY HYPERTHERMIA APPLICATOR.THE PHASE I STUDIES WILL ALLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS EXISTING DESIGN INTO A WORKING PROTOTYPE MICROWAVE HYPERTHERMIA APPLICATOR SYSTEM. THIS APPLICATOR SYSTEM WILL CONSIST OF AMICROWAVE PHASED ARRAY APPLICATOR, A MICROWAVE POWER AMPLIFIER AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK, AND A COMPUTER CONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE APPLICATOR. THIS NEW MICROWAVE PHASED ARRAY APPLICATOR SYSTEM WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF FOCUSING MICROWAVE ENERGY MORE EFFECTIVELY IN TISSUE THAN PRESENTLY AVAILABLE CLINICAL DEVICES AND THE LOCATION OF THE FOCUS WILL BE ELECTRONICALLY RATHER THAN MECHANICALLY SCANNED IN ORDER TO PRODUCE A UNIFORM TUMOR TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT OVERHEATING SURROUNDING NORMAL TISSUES. THE RESULTSOF THE PHASE I STUDIES WILL PROVIDE A BASIS FOR HUMAN CLINICAL TRIALS OF COMBINED RADIATION AND HYPERTHERMIA THERAPY.