DEVELOPMENT OF CATHETERS WITH INTEGRATED FIBEROPTIC TEMPERAT

OF INTERSTITIAL HYPERTHERMIA THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP COST-EFFECTIVE, CATHETER-BORNE FIBEROPTIC TEMPERATURE SENSORS WHICH CAN BE USED IN APPLICATIONS OF INTERSTITIAL HYPERTHERMIA FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER. THE TEMPERATURE SENSOR(S) WILL BE BASED ON LUXTRON'S MOST RECENT FIBEROPTIC TEMPERATURE SENSING TECHNOLOGY AND WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO THE CATHETER. THE COMBINATION WILL ALLOW MORE EFFECTIVE MONITORING AND CONTROL OF TISSUE TEMPERATURES DURING INTERSTITIAL HYPERTHERMIA TREATMENTS. A SUCCESSFUL PHASE I EFFORT WILL PRODUCE PROTOTYPE CATHETER TEMPERATURE SENSORS CONSTRUCTED FROM BIOCOMPATIBLE MATERIALS WITH MECHANICAL DURABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY FOR PERCUTANEOUS TISSUE IMPLANTATION AS WELL AS SUITABLE THERMOMETRY PERFORMANCE FOR TEMPERATURE FEEDBACK AND CONTROL. PHASE I WILL ALSO PROVIDE INFORMATION WITH REGARD TO COST-EFFECTIVE FABRICATION TECHNIQUES FOR FUTURE PRODUCTS AS WELL AS THE TECHNICAL BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENTAL EXTENSIONS SUCH AS CATHETER-BORNE SENSOR ARRAYS AND FURTHER CATHETER SIZE REDUCTION.