Electronic implant could make chemotherapy more effective

According to Purdue University, the technology is designed to treat solid tumours that are hypoxic (oxygen deficient) at the centre.

‘This is not good because radiation therapy needs oxygen to be effective,’ said Babak Ziaie, a Purdue University professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering. ‘So the hypoxic areas are hard to kill. Pancreatic and cervical cancers are notoriously hypoxic. If you generate oxygen you can increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy and also chemotherapy.’

The new ‘implantable micro oxygen generator’ is an electronic device that receives ultrasound signals and uses the energy to generate a small voltage to separate oxygen and hydrogen from water, a chemical operation called water electrolysis.

‘We are putting these devices inside tumours and then exposing the tumours to ultrasound,’ Ziaie said. ‘The ultrasound energy powers the device, generating oxygen.’

The devices were created at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in the university’s Discovery Park. Purdue researchers are working with Song-Chu (Arthur) Ko, an assistant professor of clinical radiation oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.