Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 88040-900, Brazil.
Oncology Veterinary, VetCâncer, São Paulo, 04523-013, Brazil.
Sci Rep. 2022 Feb 17;12(1):2766. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-06747-x.
Electrochemotherapy is a selective electrical-based cancer treatment. A thriving treatment depends on the local electric field generated by pairs of electrodes. Electrode damage as deflection can directly affect this treatment pillar, the distribution of the electric field. Mechanical deformations such as tip misshaping and needle deflection are reported with needle electrode reusing in veterinary electrochemotherapy. We performed in vitro and in silico experiments to evaluate potential problems with ESOPE type II electrode deflection and potential treatment pitfalls. We also investigated the extent to which the electric currents of the electroporation model can describe deflection failure by comparing in vitro with the in silico model of potato tuber (Solanum tuberosum). The in silico model was also performed with the tumor electroporation model, which is more conductive than the vegetal model. We do not recommend using deflected electrodes. We have found that a deflection of ± 2 mm is unsafe for treatment. Inward deflection can cause dangerous electrical current levels when treating a tumor and cannot be described with the in silico vegetal model. Outward deflection can cause blind spots in the electric field.
电化学疗法是一种基于电的癌症治疗方法。一种有效的治疗方法取决于由一对电极产生的局部电场。电极的损坏如偏转而导致的变形会直接影响电场的分布。在兽医电化学疗法中，已有研究报道了重复使用针状电极导致尖端变形和针的弯曲等机械变形。我们进行了体外和计算机模拟实验，以评估 ESOPE Ⅱ型电极偏转而产生的潜在问题以及潜在的治疗风险。我们还通过比较体外与土豆（Solanum tuberosum）的计算机模型，研究了电穿孔模型中的电流在多大程度上可以描述偏转而导致的失败。还使用肿瘤电穿孔模型进行了计算机模拟，该模型比植物模型更具导电性。我们不建议使用发生偏转而变形的电极。我们发现，当治疗肿瘤时，发生 ± 2 毫米的偏转会导致电流危险水平，而这种情况无法用植物模型进行计算机模拟描述。向外的弯曲会导致电场出现盲点。
