Abstract
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a technique to perforate a cell membrane by electric pulses and induce necrotic cell death around electrodes. It is attracting much attention because of its high potential to be used as a less-invasive treatment for tumor. Successful IRE needs to apply a pulsed voltage not only beyond a threshold to the cells but also that minimizes the Joule heating effect. The aim of this study was therefore to establish a new method to experimentally determine the temperature distribution during the IRE. Temperature-sensitive ink was used to visualize the in-situ temperature rise. Chromatic change of the ink depending on the temperature was preliminarily calibrated by a transient short-hot-wire technique combined with color analysis of the ink, and then utilized to determine the temperature distribution resulted from the electric pulses applied to the electrodes in a simulated tissue.
