Computational Feasibility Analysis of Electrochemotherapy With Novel Needle-Electrode Arrays for the Treatment of Invasive Breast Ductal Carcinoma.
Breast cancer represents a rising problem concerning public health worldwide. Current efforts are aimed to the development of new minimally invasive and conservative treatment procedures for this disease. A treatment approach for invasive breast ductal carcinoma could be based on electroporation. Hence, in order to determine the effectiveness of electrochemotherapy in the treatment of this disease, 12 electrode models were investigated on realistic patient-specific computational breast models of 3 patients diagnosed by Digital Breast Tomosynthesis imaging. The electrode models exhibit 4, 5, and 6 needles arranged in 4 geometric configurations (delta, diamond, and star) and 3 different needle spacing resulting in a total of 12 needle-electrode arrays. Electric field distribution in the tumors and a surrounding safety margin of 1 cm around the tumor edge is computed using the finite element method. Efficiency of the electrode arrays was determined hierarchically based on (1) percentage of tumor volume reversibly electroporated, (2) percentage of tumor volume irreversibly electroporated, (3) percentage of treated safety margin volume, (4) minimal invasiveness, that is, minimal number of electrodes used, (5) minimal activated electrode pairs, and (6) minimal electric current. Results show that 3 electrode arrays (4 needle-delta, 5 needle-diamond, and 6 needle-star) with fixed-geometry configuration could be used in the treatment with electrochemotherapy of invasive breast ductal carcinomas ranging from 1 to 5 cm3 along with a surrounding safety margin of 1 cm.
['Vera-Tizatl|Adriana Leticia|AL|', 'Vera-Tizatl|Claudia Elizabeth|CE|', 'Vera-Hernández|Arturo|A|', 'Leija-Salas|Lorenzo|L|', 'Rodríguez|Sergio|S|', 'Miklavčič|Damijan|D|0000-0003-3506-9449', 'Kos|Bor|B|0000-0001-6219-7046']
D000368:Aged D001943:Breast Neoplasms D044584:Carcinoma, Ductal D053672:Electrochemotherapy D004566:Electrodes D005260:Female D020342:Finite Element Analysis D006801:Humans D008875:Middle Aged D008954:Models, Biological D009339:Needles D019047:Phantoms, Imaging
breast cancer electroporation computational breast model safety margin finite element modeling