IMPLANTERBART HYPERTERMI APPARAT

The apparatus is designed to produce heat and to sense the temperature in an internal organ, such as a tumour, and to gather information on the tumour with a view to diagnosis and other purposes. The apparatus comprises a system, which in particular is fully implantable under the skin of the patient who is being treated or whose condition is being diagnosed. The said system includes a probe 12, which contains at least one electrical heating element 34, and at least one heat sensor 36, and which is designed to be capable of being implanted in a tumour that is to be treated, and an internal control unit 16, which can also be implanted under the skin, and which is connected to the heating element 34, and the sensor 36 in the probe 12. The internal control unit 16 also contains an electronic control unit, which is designed to control the activation of the heating element 34 and has a circuit, which can scan the temperature that is sensed by the heat sensor 36. The internal control unit also contains a transmitting/receiving circuit 50. A second part of the apparatus comprises an external control unit 22, which contains a transmitting/receiving unit 234, which is designed to be attachable to the skin in immediate proximity to the internal transmitting/ receiving unit 50 and to exchange information between the internal control unit 16 and the external control unit 22. The external control unit 22 contains a computer 203, and the associated control units and software and apparatus parts, which are designed to control the transfer of electrical energy to the heating element 34, which produces heat in the body organ. The internal control unit 16 may furthermore contain a rechargeable energy source, which can be recharged, controlled by the external control unit 22.