Single exponential decay waveform; a synergistic combination of electroporation and electrolysis (E2) for tissue ablation

, , , ,
1 Inter Science GmbH, Gisikon, Switzerland
2 Prostata Center, Institut fur Bildgebende Diagnostik, Offenbach, Germany
3 Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.2549v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Bioengineering, Biophysics, Oncology, Pathology, Histology
Keywords
tissue ablation, synergy electroporation and electrolysis, liver, electrolytic ablation, reversible electroporation, irreversible electroporation, electrolysis
Copyright
© 2016 Klein et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Klein N, Guenther E, Mikus P, Stehling MK, Rubinsky B. 2016. Single exponential decay waveform; a synergistic combination of electroporation and electrolysis (E2) for tissue ablation. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2549v1

Abstract

Background: Electrolytic ablation and electroporation based ablation are minimally invasive, non-thermal surgical technologies that employ electrical currents and electric fields to ablate undesirable cells in a volume of tissue. In this study we explore the attributes of a new tissue ablation technology that simultaneously delivers a synergistic combination of electroporation and electrolysis (E2).

Method: A new device that delivers a controlled dose of electroporation field and electrolysis currents in the form of a single exponential decay waveform (EDW), was applied to the pig liver and the effect of various parameters on the extent of tissue ablation was examined with histology.

Results: Histological analysis shows that E2 delivered as EDW can produce tissue ablation in volumes of clinical significance, using electrical and temporal parameters which, if used in electroporation or electrolysis separately, cannot ablate the tissue

Discussion: The E2 combination has advantages over the three basic technologies of non-thermal ablation: electrolytic ablation, electrochemical ablation (reversible electroporation with injection of drugs) and irreversible electroporation. E2 ablates clinically relevant volumes of tissue in a shorter period of time than electrolysis and electroporation, without the need to inject drugs as in reversible electroporation or use paralyzing anesthesia as in irreversible electroporation.

Author Comment

This is a submission to PeerJ for review.