These articles are informative of the state of the IRE art:
Engineers Destroy Cancer Cells
August 01, 2007
A team of biomedical engineers at Virginia Tech and the University of California at Berkeley has developed a new minimally invasive method of treating cancer, and they anticipate clinical trials on individuals with prostate cancer will begin soon.
The process, called irreversible electroporation (IRE), was invented by two engineers, Rafael V. Davalos, a faculty member of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences and Boris Rubinsky, a bioengineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
http://www.vaeng.com/news/engineers-destroy-cancer-cells
Irreversible Electroporation
Guest Editor: Boris Rubinsky, Ph.D.
Irreversible Electroporation in Medicine (p. 255-260)
TCRT August 2007
Volume 6
No. 4 (p 255-360)
August 2007
ISSN 1533-0338
Open Access
Abstract
This is a brief introduction to the emerging field of irreversible electroporation in medicine. Certain electrical fields when applied across a cell can have as a sole effect the permeabilization of the cell membrane, presumable through the formation of nanoscale defects in the cell membrane. Sometimes this process leads to cell death, primarily when the electrical fields cause permanent permeabilization of the membrane and the consequent loss of cell homeostasis, in a process known as irreversible electroporation. This is an unusual mode of cell death that is not understood yet. While the phenomenon of irreversible electroporation may have been known for centuries it has become only recently rigorously considered in medicine for various applications of tissue ablation. A brief historical perspective of irreversible electroporation is presented and recent studies in the field are discussed.
http://www.tcrt.org/index.cfm?d=3029&c=4...
Design of an Irreversible Electroporation System for Clinical Use (p. 313-320)
TCRT August 2007
Volume 6
No. 4 (p 255-360)
August 2007
ISSN 1533-0338
Open Access Article
Abstract
Irreversible electroporation is an ablation modality in which microseconds, high-voltage electrical pulses are applied to induce cell necrosis in a target tissue. To perform irreversible electroporation it is necessary to use a medical device specifically designed for this use.
The design of an irreversible electroporation system is a complex task in which the effective delivery of high energy pulses and the safety of the patient and operator are equally important. Pulses of up to 3000 V of amplitude and 50 A of current need to be generated to irreversibly electroporate a target volume of approximately 50 to 70 cm3 with as many as six separate electrodes; therefore, a traditional approach based on high voltage amplifiers becomes hard to implement.
http://www.tcrt.org/index.cfm?d=3029&c=4...
Comments:
It seems that only pulsed high voltage electric current has been investigated for use in IRE. Leads me to think that other energy sources such as radio frequency, xray and focused beams of all kinds should be investigated as IRE candidates.
