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Group: Non-Oncological Applications

IRE: Exploratory / low-volume literature20 publications

Non-Oncological Electroporation

This heading gathers records in which electroporation is investigated on non-tumour targets. The weight is on irreversible electroporation: the preclinical line covers ablation of vascular smooth muscle cells, tissue decellularisation, preparation of a tissue niche for cell transplantation, limiting scar formation and nerve microsurgery. Alongside these there are clinical records in humans: adenotonsillar hypertrophy and benign prostatic hyperplasia, the latter including randomized trials against transurethral resection. The area also holds reversible electroporation records, cell fusion among them. The area falls outside the oncological scope of the portal; it is kept in the corpus to show where the same biophysical mechanism is being tested outside oncology, and it does not appear in the indication directory. The number of publications here does not indicate that a treatment is approved or in clinical use.

21publication records
7clinical publication records
12preclinical publication records
0reviews
1986–2026publication span

Clinical publications: randomized, prospective and retrospective studies, case series and case reports. Preclinical publications: animal, in vitro, modelling and experimental biophysics studies.

Health Technology Assessments in This Area

This portal counts the volume of the literature; it does not assess whether a procedure is effective. The bodies below do make that assessment, and their conclusions are independent of how large the literature is: a large literature does not mean the evidence was found sufficient.

The full set with citations is on the Regulatory Documents page. The portal does not interpret these reports on its own behalf; for the current decision consult the issuing body’s own publication.

Clinical and Technical Data Reported in the Publications

The sum of the fields reported in the full text of the 21 publications in this area. The numbers are summed, not interpreted.

Sum of the patient counts reported across publications471 (reported in 7 publications)
Total lesions reported46 (in 1 publications)
Devices used (18 publications naming a device)BTX ECM830 (7) · EntIRE (1) · ENTire system (1) · ENTire (1) · IRE System (1) · ATEIM-CNRS cell pulsator (1)
Approach (18 publications report it)percutaneous (7) · open surgical (7) · intraoperative (2) · endoluminal (1) · transcutaneous surface (1)
Image guidance (14 publications report it)direct vision (8) · ultrasound (5) · fluoroscopy (1)
Response criteria (7 publications report it)other (4) · clinical examination (2) · histological (1)
Combination therapy (1 publications report it)other combination (1)
Publications reporting retreatment2 of 17 publications (4 do not report it)
Field strength250–2000 V/cm (9 records, median 1000)
Applied voltage70–1500 V (6 records, median 800)
Number of pulses5–200 (11 records, median 90)
Pulse duration5–70000 µs (11 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 badge at the top of the page summarises the IRE record only; the full split by method is here.

Irreversible electroporation (IRE)

20publication records
7clinical publication records
11preclinical publication records

Exploratory / low-volume literaturethreshold 0/20 records

No record for this method feeds the volume label.

2009–2026

Other electroporation applications

1publication records
0clinical publication records
1preclinical publication record

This set does not name a single clinical method; no literature volume is assigned.

1986–1986

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 21 Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death 20 Electric Field Distribution and Modelling 4 Muscle Contraction and Anaesthesia Requirement 3 Optimisation of Pulse Parameters 3 Thermal Effect and Joule Heating 3 Preservation of Extracellular Matrix and Tissue Scaffold 3 Apoptosis Induction 2 Tissue Conductivity and Impedance Change 1 Electrode Geometry and Placement 1 Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress 1 Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD) 1

Study Type Distribution

The percentage gives the share of the whole area.

Study typePublicationsShare within this area
Randomized Clinical Trial3
14%
Prospective Clinical Study1
5%
Case Series3
14%
Animal Study12
57%
Editorial / Letter2
10%

Publication Table

21 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

21 publication records shown

RegimePublicationYearStudy typeModelMechanismPatients / lesionsDeviceAgent and routeReported outcomeAbstract
IRE
He et al · EClinicalMedicine
2026Randomized Clinical TrialHumanIrreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation118REMEDINE composite steep pulse therapeutic apparatus––Background: Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is the gold standard for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) but frequently causes retrograde ejaculation and bleeding. Hig…
IRE
He et al · BMJ Open
2025Randomized Clinical TrialHumanIrreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation118composite steep pulse therapeutic apparatus––Introduction: Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is the gold standard surgical treatment to lower urinary tract symptoms and benign prostatic obstruction (LUTS/BPO). Although it …
IRE
Tong et al · Urology
2025Randomized Clinical TrialHumanReversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death160composite steep-pulse therapeutic apparatus––Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-frequency irreversible electroporation for ablation of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Materials and methods: One hundred sixty subjects …
IRE
Khudayberganov · –
2024Prospective Clinical StudyHumanIrreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation12EntIRE––Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a novel non-thermal tissue ablation technology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of IRE in the treatment of adenotons…
IRE
Khasanov et al · J Clin Med
2026Case SeriesHumanIrreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation31ENTire system––Background/Objectives: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a non-thermal tissue ablation technology, offering potential advantages such as reductions in pain, bleeding, and procedural time…
IRE
Sarafoleanu et al · Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
2026Case SeriesHumanIrreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation23 / 46ENTire, IRE System–pain response 4 score (23 patients)Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of irreversible electroporation for non-thermal ablation of tonsils in adults. Study design: Prospective interventional case series of 24 adult…
IRE
Yu et al · Medicine (Baltimore)
2025Case SeriesHumanIrreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation9–––This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of IRE (irreversible electroporation) ablation in the management of BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia). Clinical data from 9 patients with prosta…
IRE
Xu et al · Front Cell Dev Biol
2026Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Apoptosis Induction–steep pulsed electric field therapy system––Introduction: Minimally invasive treatments for lower extremity varicose veins carry risks of thermal diffusion injury, nerve damage, ectopic embolism, and limited efficacy, highlighting the…
IRE
Ye et al · J Cardiovasc Transl Res
2025Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation–Intelligent––This study evaluated the effects of irreversible electroporation (IRE), a non-thermal ablation method, on carotid atherosclerotic plaques induced by high-fat feeding combined with balloon di…
IRE
Han et al · J Surg Res
2024Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation–BTX ECM830––Introduction: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a tissue ablation technology that kills cells with short electrical pulses that do not induce thermal damage, thereby preserving the extra…
IRE
Zhang et al · Radiol Oncol
2023Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death–BTX ECM830––Background: Pancreatic islet transplantation via infusion through the portal vein, has become an established clinical treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes. Because the engraftment eff…
IRE
Pelaez et al · Ann Biomed Eng
2020Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation–BTX ECM830––Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is an emerging technology for non-thermal ablation of solid tumors. This study sought to integrate electrodes into microporous poly(caprolactone) (PCL) sca…
IRE
Chang et al · Biotechniques
2017Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death–BTX ECM830––The critical shortage of donor organs has spurred investigation of alternative approaches to either generate replacement organs or implant exogenous cells for treatment of end-stage organ fa…
IRE
Golberg et al · J Invest Dermatol
2016Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death–BTX 830 pulse generator–other 57.9% (9 animals)Preventing the formation of hypertrophic scars, especially those that are a result of major trauma or burns, would have enormous impact in the fields of regenerative and trauma medicine. In …
IRE
Maor et al · J Vasc Interv Radiol
2010Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death–BTX ECM830––Purpose: To evaluate the effect of endovascular nonthermal irreversible electroporation (NTIRE) on blood vessels. Materials and methods: Specially made endovascular devices with four electro…
IRE
Phillips et al · J Biomech Eng
2010Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death–ECM 80–tumour volume change 0% (999 not reported)Tissue scaffolding is a key component for tissue engineering, and the extracellular matrix (ECM) is nature's ideal scaffold material. A conceptually different method is reported here for pro…
IRE
Sano et al · Biomed Eng Online
2010Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Optimisation of Pulse Parameters, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation–BTX ECM830––Background: Despite advances in transplant surgery and general medicine, the number of patients awaiting transplant organs continues to grow, while the supply of organs does not. This work o…
IRE
Maor et al · PLoS One
2009Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Optimisation of Pulse Parameters, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death–BTX ECM830––Background: Non thermal Irreversible electroporation (NTIRE) is a new tissue ablation method that induces selective damage only to the cell membrane while sparing all other tissue components…
Other EP
Teissie et al · Biochem Biophys Res Commun
1986Animal StudyAnimal (In Vivo)Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation–ATEIM-CNRS cell pulsator–cell viability 95% (300 patients)Electropermeabilization of chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) is a long lived process but is nevertheless fully reversible. Electrofusion can be obtained by centrifuging the cells several min…
IRE
Koriem · World J Gastroenterol
2025Editorial / LetterHumanIrreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death, Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation––––One of the main causes of liver fibrosis and cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming more common every year. The novel work by Yu et al , which evaluates the viability …
IRE
Ramírez-Mejía · World J Hepatol
2025Editorial / LetterAnimal (In Vivo)Reversible Membrane Permeabilisation, Irreversible Pore Formation and Cell Death––––Targeting the gut-liver axis has emerged as a promising strategy in the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), a condition that currently represents t…

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.