A feasibility study of a radio-frequency theranostic device for tumor localization and treatment

In this paper, we present a feasibility study of an innovative theranostic system for non-invasive detection and treatment of malign neoplasms by using a radio-frequency magnetic field. The proposed hardware system, operating at 3 MHz, consists in a resonant spiral coil coupled to an unloaded concentric probe loop. The tumor detection is achieved by measuring the amplitude shift of the probe input impedance while scanning the region of interest. This hardware configuration has the main purpose to produce a focused and homogeneous field distribution, which improves the device resolution during the imaging procedure; conversely, in the ablation treatment, it produces a focused heating precisely directed towards the previously detected tissues, preserving the surrounding healthy regions. The main advantages of the proposed system, beside the relatively low-complexity instrumentation, also include the possibility to reducing the time of diagnosis and the invasiveness for the patient, to increase the therapy effectiveness, thus overcoming the health risks associated with the currently employed techniques. The observed results reveal the potential of an innovative tunable near-field clinical device, to be employed in future for non-invasive detection and treatment of internal malign neoplasms, thus encouraging further analysis.