Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Parameters Affecting High-Frequency Irreversible Electroporation for Prostate Cancer Ablation

Autor: Kenneth N. Aycock, Ram Anand Vadlamani, Edward J. Jacobs, Khan Mohammad Imran, Scott S. Verbridge, Irving C. Allen, Navid Manuchehrabadi, Rafael V. Davalos
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. 144
ISSN: 1528-8951
0148-0731
DOI: 10.1115/1.4053595
Popis: While the primary goal of focal therapy for prostate cancer (PCa) is conserving patient quality of life by reducing oncological burden, available modalities use thermal energy or whole-gland radiation which can damage critical neurovascular structures within the prostate and increase risk of genitourinary dysfunction. High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) is a promising alternative ablation modality that utilizes bursts of pulsed electric fields (PEFs) to destroy aberrant cells via targeted membrane damage. Due to its nonthermal mechanism, H-FIRE offers several advantages over state-of-the-art treatments, but waveforms have not been optimized for treatment of PCa. In this study, we characterize lethal electric field thresholds (EFTs) for H-FIRE waveforms with three different pulse widths as well as three interpulse delays in vitro and compare them to conventional irreversible electroporation (IRE). Experiments were performed in non-neoplastic and malignant prostate cells to determine the effect of waveforms on both targeted (malignant) and adjacent (non-neoplastic) tissue. A numerical modeling approach was developed to estimate the clinical effects of each waveform including extent of nonthermal ablation, undesired thermal damage, and nerve excitation. Our findings indicate that H-FIRE waveforms with pulse durations of 5 and 10 μs provide large ablations comparable to IRE with tolerable levels of thermal damage and minimized muscle contractions. Lower duration (2 μs) H-FIRE waveforms exhibit the least amount of muscle contractions but require increased voltages which may be accompanied by unwanted thermal damage.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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