Synergistic Bipolar Irreversible Electroporation for Tumor Ablation without Muscle Contraction
Abstract
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has emerged as a promising modality for tumor ablation, leveraging the controlled application of electrical pulses to induce cell death. However, the associated muscle contractions during the procedure pose challenges. This study introduces a novel approach, termed Synergistic Bipolar Irreversible Electroporation (SBIRE), aimed at achieving tumor ablation without the undesirable side effect of muscle contraction. SBIRE involves the simultaneous application of nanosecond bipolar electrical pulses (±1600 V per 0.2 cm or ±8000 V per 1 cm, ±500 ns, “+” to “?” delay 1 μs, “?” to “+” delay 200 μs, 5 cycles) and microsecond bipolar electrical pulses (±300 V per 0.2 cm or ±1500 V per 1 cm, ±2 μs, “+” to “?” delay 2 μs, “?” to “+” delay 1000 μs, 25 cycles), strategically designed to synergistically target tumor cells while minimizing the impact on adjacent muscle tissue. The experimental setup includes in vitro and in vivo studies utilizing tumor cells and animal models to assess the efficacy of SBIRE. Preliminary results demonstrate the effectiveness of SBIRE in inducing irreversible electroporation within the tumor, leading to cell death, and the ablation effect is better than other parameter forms (24.41 ± 0.23 mm
2
(SBIRE group) vs 12.93 ± 0.31 mm
2
(ns group), 6.55 ± 0.23 mm
2
(μs group), 19.54 ± 0.25 mm
2
(ns+μs group),




