Group: Musculoskeletal & CNS
Brain Tumours
In the central nervous system, electroporation is investigated both for tumour ablation and for increasing drug passage by transiently opening the blood-brain barrier. The area is predominantly preclinical.
47publication records46 unique studies once versions are merged
2clinical publication records
38preclinical publication records
5reviews
1993–2026publication span
Clinical publications: randomized, prospective and retrospective studies, case series and case reports. Preclinical publications: animal, in vitro, modelling and experimental biophysics studies.
Clinical and Technical Data Reported in the Publications
The sum of the fields reported in the full text of 46 of the 47 publications in this area. The numbers are summed, not interpreted.
Sum of the patient counts reported across publications1 (reported in 1 publications)
Total lesions reported13 (in 4 publications)
Devices used (25 publications naming a device)BTX ECM830 (5) · NanoKnife (5) · custom pulse generator (3) · custom-built H-FIRE pulse generator (2) · BTX 600 (1) · Cliniporator (1)
Agent delivered and route (16 publications reporting an agent)bleomycin (6) · bleomycin · intravenous (3) · other · other route (2) · bleomycin · intratumoural (1) · cisplatin · intravenous (1) · other (1)
Approach (22 publications report it)percutaneous (10) · open surgical (10) · transcutaneous surface (2)
Image guidance (17 publications report it)magnetic resonance imaging (7) · direct vision (6) · ultrasound (4) · computed tomography (2)
Response criteria (4 publications report it)histological (2) · other (1) · clinical examination (1)
Combination therapy (15 publications report it)systemic chemotherapy (8) · other combination (6) · radiotherapy (1)
Publications reporting retreatment2 of 36 publications (10 do not report it)
Field strength280–3000 V/cm (20 records, median 1000)
Applied voltage100–3100 V (18 records, median 600)
Number of pulses8–10000 (32 records, median 90)
Pulse duration0.1–70000 µs (36 records, median 100)
The totals are not a count of unique patients: the same cohort may have been reported in more than one publication.
Literature Status by Method
Publication count, clinical and preclinical split, literature volume and publication span for each clinical method. The badges at the top of the page summarise the IRE and ECT records separately; the full split by method is here.
Electrochemotherapy (ECT)
7publication records
1clinical publication records
3preclinical publication records
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 1/7 records
Clinical and preclinical split of that figure: 0 clinical, 0 preclinical.
1998–2026
Irreversible electroporation (IRE)
30publication records
1clinical publication records
27preclinical publication records
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 2/30 records
Clinical and preclinical split of that figure: 0 clinical, 2 preclinical.
2011–2026
Gene electrotransfer
1publication records
0clinical publication records
1preclinical publication record
Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 0/1 records
No record for this method feeds the volume label.
2018–2018
Other electroporation applications
9publication records
0clinical publication records
7preclinical publication records
This set does not name a single clinical method; no literature volume is assigned.
1993–2025
Mechanisms Mentioned in Abstracts
The figure is the number of abstracts mentioning the mechanism. A mention does not mean it was demonstrated in that study.
Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation 34
Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death 32
Electric Field Distribution and Modelling 15
Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability 12
Optimisation of Pulse Parameters 11
Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation 7
Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability 7
Thermal Effect and Joule Heating 7
Necrosis and Necroptosis 5
Apoptosis Induction 5
Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement 4
Tissue Conductivity and Impedance Change 3
Study Type Distribution
The percentage gives the share of the whole area.
| Study type | Publications | Share within this area |
|---|---|---|
| Case Report | 2 | 4% |
| Review | 5 | 11% |
| Animal Study | 20 | 43% |
| In Vitro Study | 13 | 28% |
| In Silico / Modelling | 4 | 9% |
| Experimental Biophysics Study | 1 | 2% |
| Preprint | 1 | 2% |
| Not reported | 1 | 2% |
Publication Table
47 publication records sorted by study design. Click a title to open the citation, mechanism and full abstract drawer.
Classifications are generated automatically and can be wrong for individual records. Methodology
| Regime | Publication | Year | Study type | Model | Mechanism | Patients / lesions | Device | Agent and route | Reported outcome | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECT | Cassanelli et al · CVIR Oncol. | 2026 | Case Report | Human | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation | 1 / 1 | Cliniporator VITAE | cisplatin · intratumoural | local control 1 other (1 patients) | Introduction Percutaneous ablation techniques are increasingly used in pediatric oncology, yet electrochemotherapy has not been widely explored in children. Case report We report a 7-year-ol… |
| IRE | Garcia et al · Technol Cancer Res Treat | 2011 | Case Report | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – / 1 | NanoKnife | – | complete response 1 count (1 patients) | Non-thermal irreversible electroporation (N-TIRE) has shown promise as an ablative therapy for a variety of soft-tissue neoplasms. Here we describe the therapeutic planning aspects and first… |
| Other EP | Fang et al · J Biomech Eng | 2021 | Review | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | Electroporation-based therapy (EBT), as a high-voltage-pulse technology has been prevalent with favorable clinical outcomes in the treatment of various solid tumors. This review paper aims t… |
| IRE | Jenkins et al · Adv Sci (Weinh) | 2021 | Review | Human | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability | – | – | bleomycin | – | Non-thermal, intermediate frequency (100-500 kHz) electrotherapies present a unique therapeutic strategy to treat malignant neoplasms. Here, pulsed electric fields (PEFs) which induce revers… |
| ECT | Linnert et al · Radiol Oncol | 2012 | Review | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | – | bleomycin · intravenous | – | Background: Due to the advanced oncological treatments of cancer, an overall increase in cancer incidence, and better diagnostic tools, the incidence of brain metastases is on the rise. This… |
| ECT | Linnert et al · Tumors of the Central Nervous system, Volume 3 | 2011 | Review | Literature Analysis | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | – | bleomycin | – | There is an increasing clinical challenge in the treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors, mostly because of a rise in the number of patients diagnosed with brain metastases and the l… |
| ECT | Linnert et al · Anticancer Drugs | 2009 | Review | Human | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | – | bleomycin | – | Bleomycin has been used in the treatment of brain tumors for over 30 years. Currently, we are evaluating electrochemotherapy (the use of electric pulses to enhance uptake of bleomycin) for p… |
| Other EP | Qian et al · IEEE Trans Biomed Eng | 2025 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability, Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability | – | laboratory-made pulsed voltage generator | – | – | Two major reasons why chemotherapy and immunotherapy have limited efficacy in treating gliomas are the blood-brain barrier and the dense, solid structure of the glioma. Pulsed electric field… |
| IRE | Yadav · Nat Commun | 2025 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | – | – | – | Current electrode technologies are too rigid for safe and effective delivery of electrotherapy in the brain, and patients with glioblastoma continue to face a devastating prognosis, with med… |
| IRE | Matta · Sensors (Basel) | 2024 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | The primary method of treatment for patients suffering from drug-resistant focal-onset epilepsy is resective surgery, which adversely impacts neurocognitive function. Radio frequency (RF) ab… |
| IRE | Murphy · Sci Rep | 2024 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | custom-built H-FIRE pulse generator | – | – | High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE), a nonthermal brain tumor ablation therapeutic, generates a central tumor ablation zone while transiently disrupting the peritumoral bloo… |
| IRE | Campelo et al · Front Oncol | 2023 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | custom pulse generator, custom pulse generator (VoltMed Inc.) | – | overall survival 50% (6 animals) | Background: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has been previously investigated in preclinical trials as a treatment for intracranial malignancies. Here, we investigate next generation high-… |
| IRE | Murphy et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2022 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | custom-built H-FIRE pulse generator | – | – | Improved therapeutics for malignant brain tumors are urgently needed. High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) is a minimally invasive, nonthermal tissue ablation technique, whic… |
| IRE | Partridge · Biomedicines | 2022 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | Glioblastoma is the deadliest malignant brain tumor. Its location behind the blood-brain barrier (BBB) presents a therapeutic challenge by preventing effective delivery of most chemotherapeu… |
| IRE | Lorenzo · Pharmaceuticals (Basel) | 2021 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | custom bipolar pulse generator | – | complete response 100% (4 animals) | The treatment of CNS disorders suffers from the inability to deliver large therapeutic agents to the brain parenchyma due to protection from the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Herein, we investi… |
| Other EP | Sharabi et al · Sci Rep | 2020 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Cisplatin Accumulation, Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability | – | BTX ECM830 | cisplatin · intravenous | objective response 57% | The prognosis of Glioblastoma Multiforme patients is poor despite aggressive therapy. Reasons include poor chemotherapy penetration across the blood-brain barrier and tumor infiltration into… |
| IRE | Garcia et al · Med Phys | 2017 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Electric Field Distribution and Modelling | – / 7 | NanoKnife | – | objective response 80% (5 patients) | Purpose: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has been developed as a promising minimally invasive treatment to ablate spontaneous brain tumors with pulsed electric fields in canine patients. … |
| IRE | Sharabi et al · Radiol Oncol | 2016 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | – | – | – | Background: Electroporation-based therapies such as electrochemotherapy (ECT) and irreversible electroporation (IRE) are emerging as promising tools for treatment of tumors. When applied to … |
| IRE | Garcia et al · Tumors of the Central Nervous System | 2013 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | This publication has no abstract. |
| IRE | Rossmeisl et al · J Vet Sci | 2013 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Apoptosis Induction, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | NanoKnife | – | – | This study describes the neuropathologic features of normal canine brain ablated with non-thermal irreversible electroporation (N-TIRE). The parietal cerebral cortices of four dogs were trea… |
| IRE | Hjouj et al · PLoS One | 2012 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | BTX 830 | bleomycin | – | Electroporation, is known to induce cell membrane permeabilization in the reversible (RE) mode and cell death in the irreversible (IRE) mode. Using an experimental system designed to produce… |
| ECT | Agerholm-Larsen et al · Cancer Res | 2011 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Potentiation of Cytotoxic Drug Permeability | – | Cliniporator, 8-electrode device, 4-electrode device, switch box | bleomycin · intratumoural | complete response 69% (13 animals) | Electrochemotherapy represents a strategy to enhance chemotherapeutic drug uptake by delivering electrical pulses which exceed the dielectric strength of the cell membrane, causing transient… |
| IRE | Arena · Biomed Eng Online | 2011 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | – | custom pulse generator, BTX ECM830 | – | – | Background: Therapeutic irreversible electroporation (IRE) is an emerging technology for the non-thermal ablation of tumors. The technique involves delivering a series of unipolar electric p… |
| IRE | Schoellnast et al · Radiology | 2011 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | NanoKnife | – | – | Purpose: To evaluate whether irreversible electroporation (IRE) has the potential to damage nerves in a porcine model and to compare histopathologic findings after IRE with histopathologic f… |
| IRE | Ellis et al · J Neurosurg | 2011 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | NanoKnife | bleomycin | ablation volume 1.655 cm³ | Object: Nonthermal irreversible electroporation (NTIRE) is a novel, minimally invasive technique to treat cancer, which is unique because of its nonthermal mechanism of tumor ablation. This … |
| ECT | Engström et al · Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics | 1998 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation | – | BTX 600 | bleomycin · intravenous | – | This study reports a non-invasive technique to continuously study the uptake and retention of radiopharmaceuticals after in vivo electropermeabilization in tumour bearing rats. A gamma camer… |
| Other EP | Salford et al · Biochem Biophys Res Commun | 1993 | Animal Study | Animal (In Vivo) | Increased Intracellular Bleomycin Accumulation, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | The potentials of in vivo electropermeabilization in combination with bleomycin in brain tumor treatment have been explored. In the brain of normal Fischer 344 rats, 2 electrodes were placed… |
| Other EP | Arroyo et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2025 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Optimisation of Pulse Parameters, Transmembrane Potential Change | – | custom pulse generator | – | – | Currently, the leading 3D cell culture models for characterizing and validating pulsed electric fields (PEFs) are spheroids and cell-laden hydrogels. We hypothesize that incorporating a glio… |
| IRE | Blazic et al · Radiol Oncol | 2025 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | L-POR | bleomycin · intravenous | other 3.74 count (3 not reported) | Background: Electroporation-based therapies are being explored in glioblastoma (GB) treatment, as means of enhancing drug delivery or achieving nonthermal ablation. Yet, little is known abou… |
| Other EP | Alkis et al · Chem Biodivers | 2023 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | – | – | BTX GeminiX2 | other | – | Schiff base ligand (L) was obtained by condensation reaction between 4-aminopyrimidin-2(1H)-one (cytosine) with 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde. The synthesized Schiff base was used for complexation w… |
| IRE | Shu et al · J Biomech Eng | 2022 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability | – | BTX ECM830 | – | – | The lethal electric field (LEF) thresholds for three typical cerebral cells, including a malignant glioblastoma (GBM) cell line and two cell lines from the healthy blood-brain barrier (BBB),… |
| IRE | Yu et al · Brain Sci | 2022 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Apoptosis Induction, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | – | – | – | The heat-sink effect and thermal damage of conventional thermal ablative technologies can be minimized by irreversible electroporation (IRE), which results in clear ablative boundaries and c… |
| Other EP | Alkış et al · Med Oncol | 2021 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | – | – | BTX Gemini X2 EP device | other · other route | – | Zn(II) complex of Schiff base derived from the condensation of 4-aminopyrimidine-2(1H)-one with salicylaldehyde was prepared and characterized by various physico-chemical and spectral method… |
| IRE | Fesmire et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2020 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Electric Field Distribution and Modelling | – | – | – | – | Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is generally considered to be a non-thermal ablation modality. This study was designed to examine the relative effect of temperature on IRE ablation sizes … |
| IRE | Ivey et al · Research (Wash D C) | 2019 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | INSPIRE 2.0 | – | – | High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) is a technique that uses pulsed electric fields that have been shown to ablate malignant cells. In order to evaluate the clinical potenti… |
| Gene ET | Dermol-Černe et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2018 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | FPG 10-1NM-T, laboratory prototype pulse generator, Electro cell B10 | – | cell viability 0% | In electroporation-based medical treatments, excitable tissues are treated, either intentionally (irreversible electroporation of brain cancer, gene electrotransfer or ablation of the heart … |
| IRE | Sano · Sci Rep | 2017 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a promising non-thermal treatment for inoperable tumors which uses short (50-100 μs) high voltage monopolar pulses to disrupt the membranes of cells wit… |
| IRE | Wasson et al · Ann Biomed Eng | 2017 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | BTX ECM830 | calcium chloride · topical | – | Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a cellular ablation method used to treat a variety of cancers. IRE works by exposing tissues to pulsed electric fields which cause cell membrane disrupt… |
| ECT | Chiang et al · Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol | 2014 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Tissue Conductivity and Impedance Change | – | – | other · other route | – | Membrane electroporation (MEP) increases the electrical conductivity of the plasma membrane by addition of an external electrical field. Combining MEP-induced current (IMEP ) with antineopla… |
| IRE | Neal et al · Ann Biomed Eng | 2013 | In Vitro Study | Cell Culture | Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | BTX ECM830 | bleomycin | cell viability 10% | Irreversible electroporation (IRE) achieves targeted volume non-thermal focal ablation using a series of brief electric pulses to kill cells by disrupting membrane integrity. Electrochemothe… |
| IRE | Guo et al · Bioelectrochemistry | 2026 | In Silico / Modelling | Computational Model | Optimisation of Pulse Parameters, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation | – | – | – | – | Prior studies have left the selection of high frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) pulse parameters in glioma ablation ambiguous. We developed a pulse waveform-depended glioma abl… |
| IRE | Jiang et al · Med Phys | 2025 | In Silico / Modelling | Computational Model | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – / 4 | – | – | tumour volume change 81.3% (14 patients) | Background: High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) has gradually become an attractive alternative treatment of intracranial tumors due to its clinically favorable characteristi… |
| IRE | Campelo · APL Bioeng | 2024 | In Silico / Modelling | Computational Model | Increased Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement | – | – | – | – | The blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits the efficacy of treatments for malignant brain tumors, necessitating innovative approaches to breach the barrier. This study introduces burst sine wave e… |
| IRE | Mercadal et al · Phys Med Biol | 2017 | In Silico / Modelling | Computational Model | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | – | – | – | Electroporation based treatments consist in applying one or multiple high voltage pulses to the tissues to be treated. As an undesired side effect, these pulses cause electrical stimulation … |
| Other EP | Alinezhadbalalami N · – | 2022 | Experimental Biophysics Study | Cell Culture | – | – | – | – | – | This publication has no abstract. |
| IRE | Yadav et al · – | 2025 | Preprint | Cell Culture | Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death | – | – | – | complete response 100 days | Current electrode technologies are too rigid for safe and effective delivery of electrotherapy in the brain, and patients with glioblastoma continue to face a devastating prognosis, with med… |
| Other EP | Guo et al · Materials & Design | 2025 | Not reported | – | – | – | – | – | – | A mechanism model that considered the effect of electroporation (EP) current to simulate the nerve fiber excitability during pulsed electric field tumor ablation in the human brain was devel… |
No publication matches these filters.
Limitations
Publication volume is not clinical efficacy or evidence quality. It describes how much literature exists in the area and of what kind; it does not indicate how strongly the treatment is supported, guideline endorsement or regulatory status.
Patient totals are not a count of unique patients. The same cohort may have been reported in more than one publication; the totals are not a meta-analysis.
How the corpus was assembled, the tier thresholds, the definition of a clinical publication and why methods are counted separately: Literature Map.