Integrated Microwave Amplifiers for Electrosurgical Applications

现代外科技术虽然在治疗危及生命的疾病方面极为成功，但可能涉及大量组织切除和可能失血，对恢复时间、感染风险和长期生活质量产生影响。射频和微波能量可以在外科系统中用于治疗各种医疗状况，例如良性和癌性病变，心脏，肝脏和眼睛状况以及肥胖（微波辅助吸脂），其有益效果包括组织去除，加热，血液凝固和干燥。2012年，肺癌、肠癌、乳腺癌和前列腺癌占英国所有癌症死亡人数的近一半（46%），超过三分之一的人将在其一生中被诊断出患有某种形式的癌症。然而，许多临床应用目前仍未实现，这是由于技术禁止以单独的方式解决发电和应用到治疗现场的要求，极大地限制了整体功能。现有的系统已经证明了微波的能力；现在是时候在手术中充分发挥它们的潜力了。因此，提出的研究旨在优化手术，以实现高精度，微创手术，使用靶向，非电离微波和毫米波能量。对癌症和其他疾病进行革命性的治疗，最终将提高疗效，减少现有放疗、化疗或手术所遇到的副作用或干扰。通过天线或涂抹器，锁孔腹腔镜或内窥镜手术可以以最小的风险对患者进行。然而，微波功率源目前被过度规定，以克服体内治疗部位的系统损耗。不到25%的微波能到达处理地点；其余的热量在电缆中浪费掉了，而且有潜在的危险，因为热量穿过了身体不需要治疗的部位。有机会大大减少成本和源头的规模。随着高功率密度微波半导体器件的出现，通过改变系统架构并将微波电源安置在需要的点（在治疗涂抹器内），可以更有效地实现临床效果。低成本商用设备能够提供所需的功率水平，芯片尺寸为0.85 x 1.1 mm，提供了令人难以置信的紧凑解决方案。在与Christie和Creo Medical的合作中，微波开发将针对已经进行过肠道疾病临床前研究的技术。应用程序集成将为代表性组织模型测试提供操作概念演示器。为了将电子器件与复杂的天线结构集成在一起，必须解决制造方面的挑战，未来的制造技术，如3D打印，将被用来生产具有成本效益的应用程序。该项目将使临床驱动的微波系统发展轨迹朝着紧凑的应用程序发展，这将使诊断确认、能量剂量计算、高度控制和有针对性的治疗、疗效评估和安全退出以防止播种，所有这些都在一个微创干预程序中完成。据设想，一系列临床手术可以在门诊环境或患者家中进行，否则将在手术室进行。

Modern surgical techniques, while extremely successful in curing life threatening diseases, can involve large volumes of tissue removal and possibly blood loss, with impacts upon recovery times, risk of infection and, in the longer term, quality of life. Radio frequency and microwave energy can be and is used in surgical systems to treat a vast range of medical conditions, such as benign and cancerous lesions, heart, liver and eye conditions and obesity (microwave assisted liposuction), with beneficial effects including tissue removal, heating, blood clotting and drying. Cancers of the lung, bowel, breast and prostate accounted for almost half (46%) of all cancer deaths in the UK in 2012 and more than 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime. However, many clinical applications currently remain unrealised, prohibited by technology that addresses the requirements for power generation and application to the treatment site in a separate manner, greatly limiting overall functionality. Existing systems have proven the capabilities of microwaves; now is the time to realise their full potential in surgery.Accordingly, the proposed research is targeted towards optimising surgery to achieve high precision, minimally invasive surgery using targeted, non-ionising microwave and mm-wave energy. Revolutionising treatments for cancer and other diseases, efficacy will ultimately be improved and the side effects or disruption encountered with existing radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery reduced. Performed via an antenna, or applicator, keyhole laparoscopic or endoscopic surgery can be performed with minimal risk to the patient. However, the microwave power source is currently over specified to overcome system losses to the treatment site inside the body. Less than 25% of the applied microwave energy reaches the treatment site; the rest wastefully and potentially dangerously dissipated in the cable as heat over traversed regions of the body not targeted for treatment. The opportunity exists to greatly reduce the cost and size of the source.With the advent of high power density microwave semiconductor devices, clinical effects are achievable much more effectively and efficiently by transforming the system architecture and housing the microwave power source at the point of demand - inside the treatment applicator. Low cost commercial devices are capable of providing the required power levels, with chip dimensions of 0.85 x 1.1 mm to provide an incredibly compact solution. In collaboration with the Christie and Creo Medical, microwave developments will target technology that has undergone preclinical studies for bowel conditions. Applicator integration will deliver an operational concept demonstrator for representative tissue model testing. Manufacturing challenges must be solved to integrate the electronics together with complex antenna structures and future manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing, will be exploited to produce cost effective applicators. The project will enable a clinically driven trajectory of microwave system developments towards compact applicators that will enable confirmation of diagnosis, energy dose calculation, highly controlled and targeted treatment, efficacy assessment and safe exit to prevent seeding, all in a single minimally invasive intervention procedure. It is envisaged that a range of clinical procedures could be enabled in an outpatient environment or within the patient's home that would otherwise have occurred within an operating theatre.