Comparison of Protocols for Synchronized Electroporation Pulse Delivery

摘要

For safety reasons, the delivery of electroporation pulses applied during electrochemotherapy should be synchronized with absolute refractory period of the heartbeat. The synchronization protocol should also avoid the delivery of pulses in presence of premature heartbeats. The aim of this study was to evaluate the synchronization protocol currently implemented in a clinical device for electrochemotherapy and to compare it with our own purpose-made synchronization algorithm. The functioning of both synchronization protocols was evaluated on 16 ECG signals that included actual delivery of electroporation pulses. The comparison of the results from both synchronization protocols enabled us to address potential weaknesses of existing synchronization protocol and to suggest changes for improvement of the existing protocol for clinical electrochemotherapy in the future.