Intermediate alternating electric fields device for enhancing chemotherapy of cancer: Device development and the biological effects

Recent studies have shown that intermediate frequency alternating electric fields stimulation is a promising alternative treating strategy for proliferative diseases including tumors. This article presents a safe electronic device which is capable of generating low intensity electric fields of sine, square, triangle wave from 100 kHz to 1MHz. The electric fields are generated by a waveform generator, filtered by a Butter-worth low pass filter, amplified by a two-order amplifier, and then equipped with an array of platinum electrodes. An embedded-software runs on ATmega128 and a touch screen provides a user-friendly interface for the operator. The intensity of electric fields is simulated by CST STUDIO SUITE™ using Finite Integration Technique (FIT). By the use of the device, we show that alternating intermediate frequency electrical stimulation enhanced chemotherapy of breast cancer cells.