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Irreversible electroporation is a soft tissue ablation technique using short but strong electrical fields to create permanent and hence lethal nanopores in the cell membrane, to disrupt cellular homeostasis. The resulting cell death results from induced apoptosis or necrosis induced by either membrane disruption or secondary breakdown of the membrane due to transmembrane transfer of electrolytes and adenosine triphosphate. The main use of IRE lies in tumor ablation in regions where precision and conservation of the extracellular matrix, blood flow and nerves are of importance. The first generation of IRE for clinical use, in the form of the NanoKnife System, became commercially available for research purposes in 2009, solely for the surgical ablation of soft tissue tumors. Cancerous tissue ablation via IRE appears to show significant cancer specific immunological responses which are currently being evaluated alone and in combination with cancer immunotherapy.