An ultrasonically powered implantable micro electrolytic ablation (IMEA) for tumor necrosis

Abstract

Electrolytic ablation is a technique that can remove nonresectable tumors from internal organs (such as liver, kidney, pancreas, etc.) with highly localized control to minimize harm to adjoining healthy tissue. Here, we aim to utilize the principle of electrolytic ablation in an implantable platform and power it by an external ultrasonic wave. The implantable micro electrolytic ablation (IMEA) will address challenges of the current existing tethered method such as constraints in electrode size, multiple targets and repeated treatments in case of cancer recurrence. We characterized the prototype of IMEA in an agarose gel containing phenolphthalein to simulate internal body tissue. Color change in phenolphthalein shows that the device responds to external ultrasonic stimulation and shows electrolytic behavior in an area around the electrodes that spreads outward with time. Overall, the IMEA could achieve 0.614±0.01 cm2 in ablation area (cathode) when ~190 mW/cm2 ultrasonic intensity was applied for 60min.