VARYING THE METALLIZATION AREA ON INDIVIDUAL ELECTRODE ELEMENTS IN A TUMOR TREATING FIELDS SYSTEM TO MAXIMIZE CURRENT WITHOUT OVERHEATING

Conventional transducer arrays for applying tumor treating fields (TTFields) include a set of individual electrode elements, and the more peripherally-located electrode elements (e.g., electrode elements at the corners or edges of the transducer arrays) tend to get hotter than the more centrally-located electrode elements. This situation can be ameliorated by reducing the capacitance of the more peripherally-located electrode elements. Reducing the capacitance of those elements reduces the current that travels through those elements (at any given voltage), which reduces the temperature of those elements. Once the capacitance of the more peripherally-located electrode elements is reduced, higher voltages can be used without overheating. This leads to an increase in the overall current, which can improve the efficacy of the TTFields treatment.