A Novel High-Frequency Bipolar Pulsed Power Generator for Biological Applications

Abstract

High-frequency bipolar high-voltage pulsed electric field can be used in tumor ablation to uniform the electric field distribution in the ablated region and inhibit muscle contraction effectively. Developing a high-frequency bipolar pulsed power generator (HBPPG) with wide range of specifications, such as voltage magnitude, waveform, repetition rate, and pulsewidth, is of great significance for promoting the clinical application of irreversible electroporation. Hence, in this article, a novel modular high-voltage HBPPG circuit topology is proposed for such application. Each module consists of an H-bridge and an isolated inductor. Theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results show that this generator perfectly combines the advantages of solid-state Marx and bridge circuit, with high stability and redundancy. The pulse frequency, pulse duration, and waveform can be flexibly adjusted by a controller software algorithm according to load parameters. The viability of the proposed HBPPG is demonstrated by PSpice simulation and equal-scale prototype. The key parameters of the developed HBPPG are as follows: voltage amplitude up to ±10 kV with 500 ns-5 μs pulsewidths, 500 kHz within the burst, and 10 kHz within the continuation limited by the input high-voltage dc power supply. All the pulse parameters can be programmed arbitrarily.