Electric pulse generation systems using capacitive coupling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018237764-A1
Application number	US-201815955377-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 17, 2018
Priority date	Jan 17, 2014
Publication date	Aug 23, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

In accordance with the present disclosure, exposure of a sample to one or more electric pulses via capacitive coupling is described. In certain embodiments, the sample may be a biological sample to be treated or modified using the pulsed electric fields. In certain embodiments, the electric pulses may be delivered to a load using capacitive coupling. In other embodiments, the electric pulses may be bipolar pulses.

First claim

1 . An electric pulse generation system comprising:
a sample holder comprising two electrodes wherein the sample holder is configured to electrically couple the two electrodes to a cuvette disposed in the sample holder, wherein the cuvette comprises a capacitive element; pulse generating circuitry configured to generate an electric pulse in the cuvette between the two electrodes; and control circuitry configured to:
receive a characteristic of the capacitive element;
receive a set of characteristics of the electric pulse; and
cause the pulse generating circuitry to generate the electric pulse based at least in part on the set of characteristics of the electric pulse and the characteristic of the capacitive element.

2 . The electric pulse generation system of claim 1 , wherein the cuvette comprises first wall comprising a nonconductive material that forms a capacitive element, and wherein at least one electrode of the sample holder is configured to form an electrical coupling to the first wall.

3 . The electric pulse generating system of claim 2 , wherein the nonconductive material comprises a quart or a plastic.

4 . The electric pulse generating system of claim 1 , wherein a capacitance of the capacitive element of the cuvette is in a range between 1 nF and 1 mF.

5 . The electric pulse generation system of claim 1 , wherein the set of characteristics of the electric pulse comprises a pulse duration, wherein the pulse duration is substantially in a range between 1 nanosecond and about 100 microseconds.

6 . The electric pulse generation system of claim 1 , wherein the set of characteristics of the electric pulse comprise a field strength, wherein the field strength is substantially in a range between 0.1 kV/cm and 350 kV/cm.

7 . The electric pulse generation system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the capacitive element comprises a capacitance of the capacitive element.

8 . The electric pulse generation system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the capacitive element comprises a tag that is associated with a cuvette type.

9 . A cuvette comprising:
a body comprising a nonconductive material; a sample cavity configured to receive a sample; a first wall configured to couple to a first electrode of a pulse generating system that comprises a capacitive element; and a second wall configured to couple to a second electrode of the pulse generating system.

10 . The cuvette of claim 9 , wherein the capacitive element comprises a capacitance in a range between 1 nF and 1 mF.

11 . The cuvette of claim 9 , wherein the nonconductive material comprises a quartz or a plastic.

12 . The cuvette of claim 9 , wherein the first wall comprises a conductive contact configured to couple to the first electrode to the capacitive element, wherein the conductive contact is separated from the sample cavity by a dielectric gap of the capacitive element, and wherein the dielectric gap comprises the nonconductive material.

13 . The cuvette of claim 12 , wherein the dielectric gap comprises a first thickness between about 1 mm and 5 mm.

14 . The cuvette of claim 9 , wherein the second wall comprises a second capacitive element.

15 . The cuvette of claim 9 , wherein the first wall comprises a dielectric element.

16 . The cuvette of claim 15 , wherein the dielectric element comprises a ceramic dielectric or a plastic dielectric.

17 . The cuvette of claim 9 , wherein the second wall comprises a conductive contact configured to couple the second electrode directly to the sample cavity.

18 . The cuvette of claim 9 , comprising a label that comprises a tag associated with a capacitance of the capacitive element of the cuvette.

19 . A method to activate a biological sample using an electric pulse generation system, the method comprising:
placing a sample in a cuvette comprising a capacitive element; placing the cuvette in a sample holder comprising two electrodes, wherein the sample in the cuvette and the capacitive element of the cuvette are electrically coupled to the two electrodes of the sample holder; and causing a pulse generating circuitry to deliver an electric pulse signal to the sample in the cuvette.

20 . The method of claim 19 , comprising selecting a configuration of the electric pulse signal, the configuration comprising a number of electric pulses, a shape of the electric pulses, a voltage for the electric pulses, a duration for the electric pulses, or any combination thereof, wherein the electric pulse signal is designed based on the capacitive element coupled to the electric pulse generation system.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Caiafa Antonio
• Neculaes Vasile Bogdan
• Garner Allen Lawrence
• Torres Andrew Soliz

Classifications

• A61B5/153

  {Devices} specially adapted for taking samples of venous or arterial blood, e.g. with syringes · CPC title

• A61B5/150343

  Collection vessels for collecting blood samples from the skin surface, e.g. test tubes, cuvettes (sampling from within body cavities A61B5/150015, A61B5/150045) · CPC title

• A61B5/15003

  for venous or arterial blood · CPC title

• C12M35/02

  Electrical or electromagnetic means, e.g. for electroporation or for cell fusion · CPC title

• H03K3/53

  by the use of an energy-accumulating element discharged through the load by a switching device controlled by an external signal and not incorporating positive feedback (H03K3/335 takes precedence) · CPC title