RESUMO
Objective Nanoknife,also called irreversible electroporation,is a new technique of tissue ablation.Short,microsecond electrical pulses with high voltage are applied to the cell membrane,causing pores to form within the membrane and finally leading to cell death.The current study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the nanoknife in the ablation of the healthy pig pancreas.Methods Three healthy pigs underwent open pancreatic tissue ablation with nanoknife,and blood leukocytes and amylase were detected before and after treatment.Three pigs were sacrificed and gross specimens were collected on day 5,day 10 and day 15 after the procedure,respectively.HE staining and TUNEL staining were conducted and tissue,cellular and subcellular structures were observed under the ordinary microscope and transmission electron microscopy.Results Three experimental pigs recovered well after the procedure.No significant adhesions were found surrounding the pancreatic tissue,and the ablation zone was slightly harder.Transiently increased leukocyte count and amylase level were observed after the ablation,which decreased to the normal level on day 3 after treatment.Under light microscope,the pancreatic tissues in ablation zone appeared to be significantly different from the normal surrounding regions,with more cell death and more apoptotic cells detected by TUNEL staining.The subcellular structure changes also changed under electron microscope.But the main pancreatic duct and its large branches,together with arteriovenous distributions did not change much.Conclusions Nanoknife pancreatic tissue ablation can induce irreversible damage.In the ablation area,pancreatic duct and vascular structures are kept intact.Within a reasonable voltage range and appropriate electrical pulses setting,nanoknife ablation is safe in vivo experiment.