When using the NovoTTF-100A System, a health care professional places electrodes on the surface of the patient's scalp to deliver low-intensity, changing electrical fields called "tumor treatment fields" (TTFs) to the tumor site.
This 100-nanometer membrane, comprising the electrolyte and electrodes, has to be thin enough to allow ions to pass through it at a relatively low temperature (which, for ceramic fuel cells, lies in the range of 300 to 500 degrees Celsius).