High voltage and frequency bipolar pulse generator design for electroporation-based cancer therapy

This paper describes a novel design of a high voltage, high frequency, bipolar pulse generator, for experimental use in electrochemotherapy and irreversible electroporation, using RF MOSFETs (DE375-102N12A) in a cascaded multilevel inverter topology. Its pulsing regime is fully programmable and is con-trolled by an FPGA. A systematic development approach was followed. The UCC37321 gate driver and the HCPL-2400 opto-coupler were selected. Damping resistors and RCD snubbers were employed to mitigate excessive ringing in the output circuit. Practical EMC reduction guidelines were followed. The pulse generator operated satisfactorily, producing a typical cascaded 5-level output of 1250 V peak at 1 MHz into a load of 80 ohm in parallel with 235 pF. Higher room temperature caused a slight “indent” into the output pulses.