Modeling of the Electrochemical Treatment of Tumors

The electrochemical treatment of cancer (ECHT) consists in the passage of a direct electric current through two or more electrodes inserted locally in the tumor tissue. The extreme PH changes induced have been proposed as the main tumor destruction mechanism. The studies presented in this research have given a strong indication of the destruction mechanism involved in ECHT. Mathematical models, describing the physicochemical reaction and transport processes of species dissolved in tissue surrounding platinum anodes and cathodes, during ECHT, are developed and visualized with COMSOL Multiphysics software in this study. The considered electrochemical reactions are oxygen and chlorine evolution, at the anode, and hydrogen evolution at the cathode. Concentration profiles of substances dissolved in tissue, and the potential profile within the tissue itself, are simulated as functions of time. Modeling work of the anode processes has explained the role of chlorine in the underlying destruction mechanism behind ECHT. It is found that the reactions of chlorine with tissue play important roles as generators of hydrogen ions. The contribution of these reactions to the acidification of tissue, surrounding the anode, is strongly dependent on the applied current density and increases with decreasing current density.

کلیدواژه ها:

Tumors ، Mathematical Models ، Electrochemical Treatment