Engineering approach to irreversible electroporation

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a new less-invasive therapy to treat abnormal tissues by applying a high voltage between the electrodes inserted in the tissue. Since the cell membrane exposed to the potential difference above a certain threshold is permanently disrupted, the IRE has a potential to necrotize cells without causing damage to the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is favorable for tissue regeneration during healing. However, determining an optimal condition of electrode configuration and applied pulses is critically important because an underdose of electrical pulses makes abnormal cells remain alive, while an overdose induces Joule heating of the tissue that causes thermal damage to the ECM. Studies from engineering point of view are therefore of great help to successful IRE. The present keynote lecture is a review of the authors' work associated with the IRE which includes a three-dimensional numerical simulation to estimate electric field and temperature distribution around electrodes, evaluation of cell destruction and thermal injury, detection of ultra-short temperature rise using a thermo-responsive ink, detection of denaturation of protein using Raman spectroscopy, and the IRE experiment with threedimensional cell culture model.