Cliniporator: Medical electroporation of tumors

Abstract

The development of the medical device Cliniporator™ started in 2000 with the homonymous European project, and, at its end, the prototype of the device was ready to be certified. The work done up to that moment has been used for a new European project called European Standard Operating Procedures for the Electrochemotherapy and Electrogenetherapy (ESOPE). During the ESOPE project, standard operating procedures (SOP) have been established, and the certified device has been used for clinical trials. Some years after the end of this project, a technological redesign of the device enhanced its capability giving the possibility to produce two different models of the device, one for gene therapy and small internal or superficial tumors and the other for big, deep, solid tumors. Both the devices are driven using the same type of pulses. What is mainly changed from the beginning is the technology used to control the device, the user interface technology, and the new types of electrodes allowing to approach different type of tumors in different locations of the body. The ability to operate during open surgery has required the capability to stay synchronized with the absolute refractory period of the heart. On the other side, the need to treat big deep tumors also required the development of accessory tools to help the surgeon to plan the intervention optimizing the number of electrodes to be used and their placement.