Valley Cancer Institue and Hyperthermia story
I came to work at the Valley Cancer Institute in July 12 1989, as an electronic engineer, in the Research and Engineering department. In those days, Valley Cancer institute was located in Panorama City, California, which is called “the valley”.
At that time the institute had 5 Hyperthermia machines designed by Dr. James I. Bicher, founder and President of Valley Cancer Institute. The Hyperthermia machines were extraordinarily efficient and easy to use. Setting up the machine to treat patients didn’t take longer than 5 to 10 min. Because of its simplicity and very good design, those Hyperthermia machines were able to heat deep tumors, penetrating effectively on any part of the body.
The ingenious system that Dr. James I. Bicher invented and designed, called POPAS, was able to produce a targeted hot spot in any area of the body. POPAS stands for Parallel Oppose Phase Array System. Some other companies tried to imitate the system, but they were not successful.
The key element of the POPAS system were the chosen microwave frequency in which the hyperthermia machine operated, and the smart idea that arranged two opposed applicators to produce a positive combination of the microwaves where they met, therefore heating at that point, and having lower temperatures around it.
The CL-500 Hyperthermia machine invented and designed by Dr. James I. Bicher had an IDE (Investigational Device Exemption) from the FDA. That investigational permit allowed Valley Cancer institute to conduct a research whit the goal of obtaininf a final approval to manufacture and sell the Hyperthermia devices.
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