PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is about to begin tests to find out whether heat from radio waves can be used to kill cancer cells without harming other cells and without negative side effects.

Doctors already kill cancer cells by sending radiofrequency currents through a needle inserted in the target area to raise the temperature to the point at which the cells die, a process known as radiofrequency ablation.

What makes the new device - which was developed by someone with no medical background - promising is that it would be noninvasive, said Dr. David Geller, co-director of UPMC's Liver Cancer Center.

"This has the potential to be a new modality in cancer treatment," Geller said Monday as he demonstrated the machine to be used on lab rats. "There's nothing like it out there."

John Kanzius, 61, a former partner at Jet Broadcasting Company Inc. in Erie, developed the idea and is seeking patents for his prototype device. Geller said he was impressed by Kanzius' scientific approach, despite his having no medical training.

"John comes at it from a completely different background" than a medical researcher, Geller said.

The device uses a capacitor to focus radio waves in a transmitting head to send them to a receiving head. Between the two machines is a space of several inches where a rat will be placed so the radio waves can be sent through it.

Geller and Kanzius wouldn't go into detail about the method used to ensure that the radio waves would only target cancer cells, citing more than 170 intellectual property claims Kanzius has made in seeking patents.

John Moulder, a cancer researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, said it appears that they have some drug or biological agent in mind which would make the cancer cells more susceptible to heat damage than other cells.

"The real problem with radio frequency is it doesn't penetrate water very well, and you and I are essentially a bag of water," Moulder said.

After reviewing articles on the idea, he said the pair may be onto something.

"There's nothing in what they write up that screams 'junk science' at you," he said.

Mark Dewhirst, director of the radiation oncology program at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, said he couldn't comment on the theory without knowing more about it, but treating cancer with heat isn't new. There's been research into how the electroconductivity of cancer cells differs from that of regular cells, but no magic frequency has been found to only target cancer cells, he said.

Kanzius said he came up with the idea while suffering from the insomnia that was a side effect of chemotherapy. He said he hated seeing kids suffering through chemotherapy, which he called a barbaric treatment.

"The whole body was literally beat up by the chemo," he said.

Geller cautioned that much testing has to be done and that the experiment is in its early phases, having recently received university approval for animal testing - a phase that could take one to two years.

Kanzius built his first prototype in his basement using materials that included pie plates. The device UPMC will use was built and donated by Energy-Onix, a New York company that produces AM and FM radio transmitters.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., also helped secure about $200,000 in funding for the project.