Electro-thermal modeling of irreversible electroporation and validation method of electric field distribution.

Nowadays, several applications of electroporation have been adopted in cancer therapy with promising results that have boosted research interest. To develop new treatment options, the development of electroporation models and measurement method in order to study the real distribution of the electric field potential are needed. Nowadays, current trends in electroporation techniques suggest the use of more powerful pulse generators that enables the treatment of larger tissue volumes. However, new challenges arise regarding the modeling of the electroporation process in large tissue volumes as well as the potential thermal effects when large amounts of energy are used. The aim of this paper is to propose a finite element analysis (FEA) based model using COMSOL of the irreversible electroporation process considering both electrical and thermal effects, and to validate it through in-vivo experimentation. Moreover, we propose a methodology for measuring the electrical potential in different points of a biological tissue during the application of a train of pulses to measure the distribution of the electric field inside the tissue. For this application, needle-based electrodes have been developed to achieve the least invasive measurement possible. These tools are aimed to improve the application of the electroporation treatment by reducing its side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]