Bimodal Electric Tissue Ablation-Long Term Studies of Morbidity and Pathological Change

Liver ablation techniques: a review

“…This would allow the use of an ablative technique which produced its effect rapidly, supported by one of the generally slower modalities with a low likelihood of residual viable tumour cells. The combination of microwave or RF and electrolysis would be an example of this approach, and preliminary studies are beginning to appear [106]. The ablated area that results particularly from microwave ablation would allow the pH changes and destructive gas bubbles that are produced at the electrodes during electrolysis to propagate outwards from the treatment centre more rapidly and may augment the tumouricidal properties of the microwave ablation.…”

Bimodal Electric Tissue Ablation (BETA)—Effect of Reversing the Polarity of the Direct Current on the Size of Ablation

“…More recently, the combination of direct current (DC) with RFA to increase the size of tissue ablation was introduced [21][22][23][24]. This is in a sense a combination of electrolysis and RFA, although the underlying principle is slightly different from the conventional electrolytic therapy.…”

“…Cockburn et al and Dobbins and colleagues postulated that increasing the hydration of the liver tissues around the active RF electrode would reduce the tissue temperature during ablation [21][22][23][24]. This would delay tissue desiccation and allows the ablation process to continue for a longer period of time and therefore produce larger ablations.…”

Bimodal Electric Tissue Ablation (BETA): A Study on Ablation Size When the Anode is Placed on the Peritoneum and the Liver

“…One recent discovery is bimodal electric tissue ablation (BETA) which combines the cathode of a DC circuit to the radiofrequency (RF) electrode to increase the size of tissue ablation [7][8][9][10]. The cathode will increase the hydration of the tissues around it which will delay tissue desiccation and ''roll-off'' during an ablation.…”

“…One of the problems with BETA identified in previous studies is the tissue injury associated with the positive electrode (anode). In their animal studies, Dobbins et al attached the anode to a scalpel blade that was inserted into the subcutaneous tissue, which subsequently resulted in a full thickness skin necrosis [8]. In retrospect, this was not unexpected, considering that in previous experiments involving electrolytic therapy, various cytotoxic chemicals were shown to be produced at the anode, including acidic hydrogen ions and chlorine [11][12][13].…”