Objective Bladder cancer is a cause of considerable morbidity worldwide. Electromotive Drug Administration is a method that combines intravesical chemotherapy with local electric field application. Electroporation has been suggested among other mechanisms as having a possible role in the therapy, so the goal of the present study was to investigate the electric fields present in the bladder wall during the treatment to determine which mechanisms might be involved. Material and Methods Electromotive Drug Administration involves applying intravesical mitomycin C with direct current of 20 mA delivered through a catheter electrode for 30 min. For numerical electric field computation we built a 3-D nonhomogeneous patient specific model based on CT images and used finite element method simulations to determine the electric fields in the whole body. Results Results indicate that highest electric field in the bladder wall was 37.7 V/m. The mean electric field magnitude in the bladder wall was 3.03 V/m. The mean magnitude of the current density in the bladder wall was 0.61 A/m2. Conclusions The present study shows that electroporation is not the mechanism of action in EMDA. A more likely explanation of the mechanism of action is iontophoretic forces increasing the mitomycin C concentration in the bladder wall.
COBISS.SI-ID: 11480148
Electroporation-based treatments are a highly effective local treatment option for a variety of tumors. Deep seated tumors in the head and neck region are often difficult to access with standard fixed-geometry electrodes, therefore the use of single needle variable geometry electrodes can be favorable. We present a method for coupling optical navigation and numerical treatment planning for better control of electroporation treatment realization.
COBISS.SI-ID: 11641940
Background. Electroporation-based therapies such as electrochemotherapy (ECT) and irreversible electroporation (IRE) are emerging as promising tools for treatment of tumors. When applied to the brain, electroporation can also induce transient blood-brain-barrier (BBB) disruption in volumes extending beyond IRE, thus enabling efficient drug penetration. The main objective of this study was to develop a statistical model predicting cell death and BBB disruption induced by electroporation. This model can be used for individual treatment planning. Material and methods. Cell death and BBB disruption models were developed based on the Peleg-Fermi model in combination with numerical models of the electric field. The model calculates the electric field thresholds for cell kill and BBB disruption and describes the dependence on the number of treatment pulses. The model was validated using in vivo experimental data consisting of rats brains MRIs post electroporation treatments. Results. Linear regression analysis confirmed that the model described the IRE and BBB disruption volumes as a function of treatment pulses number (r2 = 0.79; p ( 0.008, r2 = 0.91; p ( 0.001). The results presented a strong plateau effect as the pulse number increased. The ratio between complete cell death and no cell death thresholds was relatively narrow (between 0.88-0.91) even for small numbers of pulses and depended weakly on the number of pulses. For BBB disruption, the ratio increased with the number of pulses. BBB disruption radii were on average 67% ± 11% larger than IRE volumes. Conclusions. The statistical model can be used to describe the dependence of treatment-effects on the number of pulses independent of the experimental setup.
COBISS.SI-ID: 11290452