The present invention concerns a system for treating cancer or tumors by thermotherapy, comprising an expandable implant device, an excitation catheter and an electric power source, wherein the implant device configured for circumferentially subtending a vessel upon expansion of the implant device in said vessel, the implant device comprising a set of cross-connected conductors forming a circumferential structure with openings in between the conductors, said openings having a minimal opening distance when the implant device is expanded of at least 2 mm, wherein the excitation catheter comprises a longitudinal shaft with a distal end, a proximal end, and a longitudinal body in between, whereby the catheter comprises a longitudinal axis along the longitudinal shaft, and whereby the catheter further comprises an emitter coil at or near the distal end, and whereby the longitudinal body of the catheter further comprises a wiring lumen comprising electrical wiring extending from the distal end to the proximal end, and whereby the electrical wiring is connected at or near the distal end with the emitter coil, and wherein the electric power source is connectable, and preferably connected, to the wiring via the proximal end of the catheter shaft for the generation of a time-varying magnetic field with the emitter coil.

Cancer treatment methods using thermotherapy and/or enhanced immunotherapy are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the method comprising the steps of: (i) applying controlled thermal energy at 40-43° C. for a first predetermined time period to damage and weaken tumor cells of a tumor in a patient; (ii) administering pulsed high intensity focused ultrasound (pHIFU) in a first ultrasound mode to the tumor cells in the patient so as to damage the tumor cells without increasing the thermal energy; and (iii) administering low intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) in a second ultrasound mode to further damage the tumor cells at a temperature of 39-43° C. for a second predetermined time period while performing observation of the tumor cells by ultrasonic thermometry.

A biocompatible seed for implantation in tissue of a patient includes an elongated body sized and shaped to be at least partially inserted into the tissue of the patient, in which the body includes a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) material having a Poisson's ratio of between 0 and −1. The seed can be a thermal seed configured to generate heat responsive to exposure to a magnetic field. The seed can be a seed for brachytherapy that includes an inner layer including a radioactive material and an outer layer including the NPR material.

Methods, apparatuses, systems, and implementations for inductive heating of a foreign metallic implant are disclosed. A foreign metallic implant may be heated via AMF pulses to ensure that the surface of the foreign metallic implant heats in a uniform manner. As the surface temperature of the foreign metallic implant rises, acoustic signatures may be detected by acoustic sensors that may indicate that tissue may be heating to an undesirable level approaching a boiling point. Once these acoustic signatures are detected, the AMF pulses may be shut off for a time period to allow the surface temperature of the implant to cool before applying additional AMF pulses. In this manner, the surface temperature of a foreign metallic implant may be uniformly heated to a temperature adequate to treat bacterial biofilm buildup on the surface of the foreign metallic implant without damaging surrounding tissue. The AMF pulse treatment can be combined with an antibacterial/antimicrobial treatment regimen to reduce the time and/or antibacterial dosage amount needed to remove the biofilm from the metallic implant.

Disclosed apparatuses and methods apply electric fields deep in a body by selectively actuating multiple magnetic modules about the body sequentially in time. The electric field induced in regions of the body from such actuations may have a different frequency, depending on the depth of the region.

Methods, apparatuses, systems, and implementations for inductive heating of a foreign metallic implant are disclosed. A foreign metallic implant may be heated via AMF pulses to ensure that the surface of the foreign metallic implant heats in a uniform manner. As the surface temperature of the foreign metallic implant rises, acoustic signatures may be detected by acoustic sensors that may indicate that tissue may be heating to an undesirable level approaching a boiling point. Once these acoustic signatures are detected, the AMF pulses may be shut off for a time period to allow the surface temperature of the implant to cool before applying additional AMF pulses. In this manner, the surface temperature of a foreign metallic implant may be uniformly heated to a temperature adequate to treat bacterial biofilm buildup on the surface of the foreign metallic implant without damaging surrounding tissue. The AMF pulse treatment can be combined with an antibacterial/antimicrobial treatment regimen to reduce the time and/or antibacterial dosage amount needed to remove the biofilm from the metallic implant.

Magnetic nanoparticles for use in a magnetic hyperthermia therapeutic treatment, prophylactic treatment or diagnosis method, wherein the magnetic nanoparticles are administered to a body part of an individual and the body part is exposed to a magnetic field oscillating at a high frequency and at a medium and/or low frequency, wherein the high frequency is 1 MHz at the most, the medium frequency is lower than the high frequency, and the low frequency is lower than the high frequency and lower than the medium frequency when it is present.

Provided is a magnetic nanoparticle heating method using resonance, the method including (a) providing magnetic nanoparticles, (b) applying a direct current (DC) magnetic field to the magnetic nanoparticles, and (c) applying an alternating current (AC) magnetic field to the magnetic nanoparticles 100, wherein a temperature change rate dT/dt of the magnetic nanoparticles is increased to at least 10 K/s or more by adjusting at least one of a strength of the DC magnetic field, a frequency of the AC magnetic field, a strength of the AC magnetic field, and a pulse width of the AC magnetic field.

Methods, apparatus, and systems for medical procedures are disclosed herein and include applying an ablation electrode of a catheter to a surface of a tissue area, providing a first energy to the ablation electrode applied on the surface of the tissue area to ablate the tissue area, inserting a catheter needle of the catheter to a first distance into the tissue area, through the surface of the tissue area, depositing, via the catheter needle, a first radioactive seed at the first distance, and damaging a second portion of the tissue area based on depositing the first radioactive seed at the first distance.

A hyperthermia implant 20 for hyperthermia treatment of tissue 30 of a human or animal body. The implant comprises at least one piece of a large Barkhausen jump material (LBJ) and a magnetic field may be applied to the implant to heat the surrounding tissue. The implant may also be deployed to mark a tissue site in the body for subsequent surgery, thereby providing a combined system for locating an implant and treating the surrounding area. The system includes a handheld probe 14 to excite the implant below the switching field for bistable switching causing a harmonic response to be generated in a sub-bistable mode that allows the implant to be detected and localised.