ELECTROPORATION-“KNIFE FOR CANCER”

Electroporation, a technique that microbiologists have long used experimentally to temporarily punch holes in cell membranes and ferry drugs or genes into them, may yield new benefits for cancer treatment, an electroporation device that it claims can kill cancerous tumor cells with remarkable specificity while inflicting little or no damage on surrounding structures and causing no pain for the patient.Electroporation does not produce enough heat to disrupt nearby tissue.
When tumours abut especially large blood vessels, another problem arises for thermal ablation. Radiologists call it the heat sink effect. The flow of blood provides convection to the area, cooling it substantially, and it becomes more difficult to maintain temperatures that thoroughly and consistently ablate the tissue. Angio Dynamics’ device, the Nano Knife, might circumvent this problem all together.
The Nano Knife delivers quick bursts of energy through a set of electrodes inserted into and around the tumour. The pulses can last up to 100 microseconds and create an electrical field of up to 3000 volts per centimetre. A cell within range of the electric field will form pores in its fatty membrane, allowing ions to rush through. When electroporation is performed with a lower voltage than the Nano Knife delivers, and with single pulses instead of a train of pulses, the pores will eventually close as the electric potential of the cell stabilizes. Microbiologists have used this kind of reversible electroporation, among many other things, to transport genetic material into stem cells. When exposed to higher voltages and longer pulse duration, however, the pores in the cell membrane remain open and cause the cell to initiate a programmed suicide, known as apoptosis.
. the Nano Knife has already been approved in the United States for use in the ablation of soft tissue, and Angio Dynamics has installed prototypes in 17 medical centers around the world, 5 of which are actively using it. The device has been tested so far on 37 patients.
Nano Knifes also used to destroy kidney and lung tumours.

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