Generating and interleaving of irreversible-electroporation and radiofrequnecy ablation (IRE/RFA) waveforms

1. A system for combining irreversible electroporation and radio frequency ablation (IRE/RFA), comprising:

an IRE pulse generator configured to generate biphasic IRE square pulses;

one or more harmonic filters, configured using a processor, to convert the IRE square pulses into an RF sinusoidal signal; and

a waveform interleaver comprising switching circuitry, which is configured to receive the IRE square pulses and the converted RF sinusoidal signal and generate a combined IRE/RFA output signal by switching between the received IRE square pulses and the received converted RF sinusoidal signal, and interleaving in alternation, into a single waveform, one or more of the IRE square pulses with one or more periods of the converted RF sinusoidal signal.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the waveform interleaver is configured to receive, from a processor, a setting that specifies an interleaving ratio between the IRE pulses and the periods of the RF signal, and to generate the interleaved IRE/RFA output signal responsively to the setting.

3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the IRE pulse generator is configured to receive, from a processor, a setting that specifies one or more of a shape, an amplitude and a repetition rate of the IRE pulses, and to generate the biphasic IRE pulses responsively to the setting.

4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more harmonic filters are configured to receive, from a processor, a setting that specifies one or more of a frequency and amplitude of the RF signal, and to convert the IRE pulses into the RF signal responsively to the setting.

5. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising an IRE pulse shaping circuitry, configured to apply a prespecified pulse-shape to the IRE pulses.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the waveform interleaver is configured to interleave the IRE pulses with the RF signal in accordance with a configurable treatment protocol.

7. A method of generating a combined irreversible electroporation and radio frequency ablation (IRE/RFA) signal, the method comprising:

generating biphasic IRE square pulses;

using one or more harmonic filters, configured by a processor, converting the IRE square pulses into an RF sinusoidal signal; and

generating a combined IRE/RFA output signal by interleaving, into a single waveform, one or more of the IRE square pulses with one or more periods of the converted RF sinusoidal signal.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein generating the IRE/RFA output signal comprises receiving, from a processor, a setting that specifies an interleaving ratio between the IRE pulses and the periods of the RF signal, and generating the interleaved IRE/RFA output signal responsively to the setting.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein generating the biphasic IRE pulses comprises receiving, from a processor, a setting that specifies one or more of a shape, an amplitude and a repetition rate of the IRE pulses, and generating the biphasic IRE pulses responsively to the setting.

10. The method according to claim 7 , wherein converting the IRE pulses into the RF signal comprises receiving, from a processor, a setting that specifies one or more of a frequency and amplitude of the RF signal, and converting the IRE pulses into the RF signal responsively to the setting.

11. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising shaping the IRE pulses by applying a prespecified pulse-shape to the IRE pulses.

12. The method according to claim 7 , wherein generating the IRE/RFA output signal comprises interleaving the IRE pulses with the RF signal in accordance with a configurable treatment protocol.

13. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein to be executed by one or more processors, the program code including instructions to:

generate biphasic IRE square pulses;

convert the IRE square pulses into an RF sinusoidal signal using one or more harmonic filters configured by the one or more processors; and

generate a combined IRE/RFA output signal by interleaving, into a single waveform, one or more of the IRE square pulses with one or more periods of the converted RF sinusoidal signal.

14. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the program code further comprises instructions to receive, from the one or more processors, a setting that specifies an interleaving ratio between the IRE pulses and the periods of the RF signal, and to generate the interleaved IRE/RFA output signal responsively to the setting.

15. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the program code further comprises instructions to receive, from the one or more processors, a setting that specifies one or more of a shape, an amplitude and a repetition rate of the IRE pulses, and to generate the biphasic IRE pulses responsively to the setting.

16. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the program code further comprises instructions to receive, from the one or more processors, a setting that specifies one or more of a frequency and amplitude of the RF signal, and to convert the IRE pulses into the RF signal responsively to the setting.

17. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the program code further comprises instructions to shape the IRE pulses by applying a prespecified pulse-shape to the IRE pulses.

18. The computer program product according to claim 13 , wherein the program code further comprises instructions to interleave the IRE pulses with the RF signal in accordance with a configurable treatment protocol.