Sensors (Oct 2020)

HyCHEED System for Maintaining Stable Temperature Control during Preclinical Irreversible Electroporation Experiments at Clinically Relevant Temperature and Pulse Settings

  • Pierre Agnass,
  • Hans M. Rodermond,
  • Remko Zweije,
  • Jan Sijbrands,
  • Jantien A. Vogel,
  • Krijn P. van Lienden,
  • Thomas M. van Gulik,
  • Eran van Veldhuisen,
  • Nicolaas A. P. Franken,
  • Arlene L. Oei,
  • H. Petra Kok,
  • Marc G. Besselink,
  • Johannes Crezee

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/s20216227
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 21
p. 6227

Abstract

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Electric permeabilization of cell membranes is the main mechanism of irreversible electroporation (IRE), an ablation technique for treatment of unresectable cancers, but the pulses also induce a significant temperature increase in the treated volume. To investigate the therapeutically thermal contribution, a preclinical setup is required to apply IRE at desired temperatures while maintaining stable temperatures. This study’s aim was to develop and test an electroporation device capable of maintaining a pre-specified stable and spatially homogeneous temperatures and electric field in a tumor cell suspension for several clinical-IRE-settings. A hydraulically controllable heat exchange electroporation device (HyCHEED) was developed and validated at 37 °C and 46 °C. Through plate electrodes, HyCHEED achieved both a homogeneous electric field and homogenous-stable temperatures; IRE heat was removed through hydraulic cooling. IRE was applied to 300 μL of pancreatic carcinoma cell suspension (Mia PaCa-2), after which cell viability and specific conductivity were determined. HyCHEED maintained stable temperatures within ±1.5 °C with respect to the target temperature for multiple IRE-settings at the selected temperature levels. An increase of cell death and specific conductivity, including post-treatment, was found to depend on electric-field strength and temperature. HyCHEED is capable of maintaining stable temperatures during IRE-experiments. This provides an excellent basis to assess the contribution of thermal effects to IRE and other bio-electromagnetic techniques.

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