Tissue ablation with irreversible electroporation
First Claim
1. A method of ablating tissue cells by non-thermal irreversible electroporation, comprising the steps of:
- (a) identifying tissue to be ablated in a living mammal;
(b) placing a first electrode and a second electrode such that the identified tissue is positioned between the first and second electrodes; and
(c) applying electrical pulses between the first and second electrodes to the identified tissue in the living mammal, in an amount which has been predetermined to be sufficient to induce irreversible electroporation of cells of the identified tissue, but which has been predetermined to be insufficient to induce thermal damage to the identified tissue such that the identified tissue cells are killed by irreversible electroporation.
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Abstract
A new method for the ablation of undesirable tissue such as cells of a cancerous or non-cancerous tumor is disclosed. It involves the placement of electrodes into or near the vicinity of the undesirable tissue through the application of electrical pulses causing irreversible electroporation of the cells throughout the entire area of the undesirable tissue. The electric pulses irreversibly permeate the cell membranes, thereby invoking cell death. The irreversibly permeabilized cells are left in situ and are removed by the body immune system. The amount of tissue ablation achievable through the use of irreversible electroporation without inducing thermal damage is considerable.
355 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of ablating tissue cells by non-thermal irreversible electroporation, comprising the steps of:
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(a) identifying tissue to be ablated in a living mammal; (b) placing a first electrode and a second electrode such that the identified tissue is positioned between the first and second electrodes; and (c) applying electrical pulses between the first and second electrodes to the identified tissue in the living mammal, in an amount which has been predetermined to be sufficient to induce irreversible electroporation of cells of the identified tissue, but which has been predetermined to be insufficient to induce thermal damage to the identified tissue such that the identified tissue cells are killed by irreversible electroporation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of ablating tissue cells by non-thermal irreversible electroporation, comprising the steps of:
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identifying a tissue zone to be treated in a living mammal; placing first and second electrodes such that the identified tissue zone is positioned between the first and second electrodes; applying a predetermined electric field to the identified tissue zone in an amount which is sufficient to perform irreversible electroporation of cells in the identified tissue zone, but which is insufficient to induce thermal damage to the cells in the identified tissue zone to kill substantially all of the cells in the identified tissue zone by irreversible electroporation. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification