PFI-TT: Development of Miniature Induction Heaters for Cancer Treatment

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is the development of novel, miniature, induction-heating devices for medical applications. More specifically, the broader impact of the project lies in the availability of smaller, more focused magnetic field applicators that can be used in patients with metallic implants (i.e., hip replacement implants, stents, etc.) that would otherwise be ineligible to receive magnetic nanoparticle-based cancer therapies. Magnetic nanoparticle-based cancer treatments require the development of new medical procedures requiring in situ, non-contact heating of electrically conductive materials in hard to reach places within the human body. The project will also provide education and leadership development in innovation and entrepreneurship to the faculty, postdoctoral scholar, and students involved in the proposed activities.The proposed project envisions the design, development, characterization, and testing of a series of miniature, induction-heating devices for medical applications. Such devices may be used in magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) prostate cancer treatment. The value proposition of the technology lies in offering patients with metallic implants near the pelvis the possibility of undergoing MFH prostate cancer therapy. The intellectual merit of the proposed research encompasses the development of magnetic field generators that do not currently exist and that may allow a more localized MFH prostate cancer therapy due to the ability to heat electrically conductive materials in hard-to-reach places within the human body. The team will determine the capabilities of the proposed technology in heating magnetic nanoparticles to kill cancer cells in vitro and determine the devices' capabilities in heating magnetic nanoparticles to ablate porcine tissues and estimate the severity and extent of tissue damage under different operating conditions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.