Targeted tissue ablation with nanosecond pulses.

In-vivo porcine studies on the effect of nanosecond high voltage pulses on liver tissue have shown that cell death can be induced in well-defined tissue volumes without damaging collagen-predominant structures. Comparison of the experimental results with the results of a three-dimensional finite element model allowed us to determine the threshold electric field for cell death. For 30, 100 nanosecond long pulses this was found to be in the range from 12 to 15 kV/cm.