Devices for generating cavitations in tissue

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025340819-A1
Application number	US-202519196257-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 1, 2025
Priority date	May 3, 2024
Publication date	Nov 6, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system to simulate injury in tissue culture may include a plate configured to contain tissue culture and defining a plurality of wells, a transducer configured to couple with the plate to create a coupling path between the plate and the tissue culture within the plate to generate cavitations within the tissue culture, a medium coupling the transducer to the plate, and an electronic driver configured to emit a waveform to drive the transducer and allow assessment of the cavitations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system to simulate injury in tissue culture, comprising:
a plate configured to:
contain tissue culture and defining a plurality of wells;
a transducer configured to:
couple with the plate to create a coupling path between the plate and the tissue culture within the plate to generate cavitations within the tissue culture;
a medium coupling the transducer to the plate; and an electronic driver configured to emit a waveform to drive the transducer and allow assessment of the cavitations.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wells are arranged in rows and columns defined by supports therebetween.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein a hole is defined at the intersection of the supports to provide a reflective indication of the location of an adjacent well.

4 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a metal panel arranged on a first side of the plate between the plate and the transducer, the panel defining a group of openings, each group of openings configured to align with a respective well of the plate.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plate is maintained and movable along a rail system, such that the plate is configured to move within the medium laterally and axially with the rail system.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the movement of the plate is configured to arranged a selected one of the plurality of wells over the transducer to generate cavitations at the selected well.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the transducer is arranged on a transducer arm, the transducer arm configured to arrange the transducer under a selected one of the plurality of wells to generate cavitations at the selected well.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the transducer generates cavitations via a waveform and is configured to receive voltage signals indicative of the cavitations in the selected well.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the transducer is included as part of a stage system having a multi-axis stage control assembly, an arm extending from the stage assembly, and the transducer being arranged on the arm.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the stage system includes at least one motor configured to drive the control assembly to maneuver the transducer arm.

11 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising an impedance matching circuit configured to match the output of an RF amplifier to the transducer and maximize power to the transducer.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising an RF generator and high voltage monitor to monitor for the presence of cavitation.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the monitoring of cavitation includes at least one of lactate dehydrogenase, glutamate, glial fibrillary acidic protein, neuron specific enolase, S100 calcium-binding protein B, ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1, neurofilament heavy chain, immunofluorescence imaging or western blot assays of intracellular proteins such as PIEZO1.

14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the medium is a liquid.

15 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the transducer is configured to deliver cavitation uniformly across a well via continuous rastering or discrete point rastering.

16 . A system to simulate injury in tissue culture, comprising:
a plate configured to contain tissue culture and defining a plurality of wells; a transducer arranged with the plate creating a coupling path between the plate and the tissue culture within the plate; a medium coupling the transducer to the plate; and a driving system configured to emit a waveform to drive the transducer and allow assessment of injury to the tissue culture.

17 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising a controller configured to receive cavitation measurements indicated via voltage signals from the transducer.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the controller provides instructions for the transducer to be arranged below a selected one of the plurality of wells to generate a cavitation at the selected well.

19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the position of transducer relative to the well based at least in part on reflective data from the plate.

Assignees

• Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc

Inventors

• Gerhardson Tyler
• Tandon Vishal
• Kim Ernest
• Walker Jennifer

Classifications

• C12M35/04

  Mechanical means, e.g. sonic waves, stretching forces, pressure or shear stimuli · CPC title

• C12M35/02 Primary

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

• C12M21/08

  for producing artificial tissue or for ex-vivo cultivation of tissue (prostheses A61F2/00, grafts A61L27/00) · CPC title

• C12M23/12 Primary

  Well or multiwell plates (C12M25/04 takes precedence) · CPC title