A versatile multilevel converter platform for cancer treatment using irreversible electroporation

Electroporation is an effective technique based on applying an electric field to cells, commonly used to increase the effectivity of drug and gene delivery. When the applied electric field is strong enough, it can be used for selective cell death with promising results in cancer treatment. This pape...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Sarnago, Héctor; Lucía, Óscar; Naval, Alejandro; Burdío, José M.; Castellví Fernández, Quim; Ivorra Cano, Antoni, 1974-
Format: Article
Status:Accepted version
Publication date:2016
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repository:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/26153
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/26153
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JESTPE.2015.2512324
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Electroporation
Multilevel converter
Power electronics
Description
Summary:Electroporation is an effective technique based on applying an electric field to cells, commonly used to increase the effectivity of drug and gene delivery. When the applied electric field is strong enough, it can be used for selective cell death with promising results in cancer treatment. This paper proposes the development of a modular multilevel topology in order to provide a high-performance tool for research in electroporation. The proposed converter based on a scalable multicell approach is detailed and analyzed in this paper, and an experimental prototype has been designed and built. The experimental results prove the feasibility of this proposal to enable advanced electroporation techniques.