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OpenEP: an open-source simulator for electroporation-based tumor treatments
Matías Marino1,2, Emmanuel Luján1,2,3,4, Esteban Mocskos5,6,7
1Laboratorio de Sistemas Complejos, Departamento de Computación and Instituto de Física del Plasma, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales-CONICET, C1428EGA, CABA, Argentina.
Scientific Reports
|January 15, 2021
Summary
OpenEP is a new open-source simulator for electroporation (EP) tumor treatments. It models and predicts optimal EP protocols, like electrochemotherapy (ECT) and gene electrotransfer (GET), for maximum tissue treatment.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computational Biology
- Medical Physics
Background:
- Electroporation (EP) increases cell membrane permeability via electric pulses, enabling medical applications like electrochemotherapy (ECT), irreversible electroporation, and gene electrotransfer (GET).
- Predicting EP treatment outcomes requires modeling electric field distribution and threshold values, which are influenced by pulse number and complex biophysical factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce OpenEP, an open-source simulator designed for mathematical modeling of EP-based tumor treatments.
- To enable prediction of optimal EP protocols by simulating threshold variations and electroporated tissue over time.
- To facilitate customization of tissue properties, electrode configurations, and pulse parameters for tailored treatment planning.
Main Methods:
- Development of OpenEP, a specialized open-source software for simulating electroporation phenomena.
- Implementation of mathematical models to predict electric field distribution, transmembrane voltage thresholds, and resulting electroporated tissue.
- Utilizing shared memory parallelization for efficient computation and rapid simulation of treatment parameters.
Main Results:
- OpenEP allows for detailed simulation of EP-based treatments, including variations in threshold and electroporated tissue over time.
- The simulator supports customization of various parameters, including tissue type, electrode geometry/material, and pulse characteristics (type, intensity, length, frequency).
- Efficient parallel implementation enables rapid prediction of optimal pulse dosages for maximizing electroporated tissue while minimizing damage.
Conclusions:
- OpenEP provides a powerful, customizable, and efficient tool for predicting and optimizing electroporation-based medical treatments.
- The simulator aids in defining critical pulse parameters for maximizing therapeutic efficacy in procedures like ECT and GET.
- OpenEP's open-source nature and parallel processing capabilities accelerate the development and application of personalized EP treatment strategies.
