This is an brief introduction to the emerging field of irreversible electroporation in medicine. Certain electrical fields when applied across a cell can have as a sole effect the permeabilization of the cell membrane, presumable through the formation of nanoscale defects in the cell membrane. Sometimes this process leads to cell death, primarily when the electrical fields cause permanent permeabilization of the membrane and the consequent loss of cell homeostasis, in a process known as irreversible electroporation. This is an unusual mode of cell death that is not fully understood yet. While the phenomenon of irreversible electroporation may have been known for centuries it has become only recently rigorously considered in medicine for various applications of tissue ablation. A brief historical perspective of irreversible electroporation is presentedfollowed by general reviews on the theory and experiment fundamentals and by reports on the most recent theoretical, experimental and clinical studies.
Author(s): Antoni Ivorra, Boris Rubinsky (auth.), Boris Rubinsky (eds.)
Series: Series in Biomedical Engineering
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 313
Tags: Biomedical Engineering; Electrophoresis; Oncology; Cell Biology; Physiological, Cellular and Medical Topics; Microwaves, RF and Optical Engineering
Front Matter....Pages -
Historical Review of Irreversible Electroporation in Medicine....Pages 1-21
Tissue Electroporation as a Bioelectric Phenomenon: Basic Concepts....Pages 23-61
Experimental Studies on Irreversible Electroporation of Cells....Pages 63-83
Mechanism of Irreversible Electroporation in Cells: Insight from the Models....Pages 85-122
Thermal Aspects of Irreversible Electroporation....Pages 123-154
Experimental Studies on Non-thermal Irreversible Electroporation in Tissue....Pages 155-181
Finite Element Modeling of in Vivo Electroporation....Pages 183-202
Optimization and Numerical Modeling in Irreversible Electroporation Treatment Planning....Pages 203-222
The Place of the Electroporation-Based Antitumor Therapies in the Electrical Armamentarium against Cancer....Pages 223-233
Irreversible Electroporation: First Patient Experience Focal Therapy of Prostate Cancer....Pages 235-247
Human Experience with Irreversible Electroporation....Pages 249-254
Irreversible Electroporation Systems for Clinical Use....Pages 255-272
The Use of Irreversible Electroporation in Food Preservation....Pages 273-312
Back Matter....Pages -
