Abstract
BackgroundElectrolytic 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).MethodA 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.ResultsHistological 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.DiscussionThe 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.
Highlights
A number of biophysical and biochemical phenomena occur simultaneously when electric fields are applied across biological matter
We have recently shown that if substantial amounts of products of electrolysis are inadvertently generated during an electroporation protocol, a highly detrimental electrical discharge across the layer of gas formed on the electrodes can occur (Guenther et al, 2015)
In several recent papers we have shown that combining electroporation and electrolysis (E2) sagaciously yields a new technology of tissue ablation with certain advantages over tissue ablation by electroporation or electrolysis alone (Phillips et al, 2015; Phillips et al, 2016; Stehling et al, 2016)
Summary
A number of biophysical and biochemical phenomena occur simultaneously when electric fields are applied across biological matter These include Joule heating due to electrical current energy dissipation, electrolytic reactions at the interface between the electrodes and the biological milieu, and cell membrane permeabilization known as electroporation. All these electrical phenomena are used for tissue ablation. 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. 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
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