Three dimensional optimal current patterns for radiofrequency ablation treatments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a planning strategy for the radio frequency ablation (RFA) treatment of hepatic tumors. The goal is to give to the surgeon the opportunity of controlling the shape and the size of the treated volume and preserving the healthy tissues.Design/methodology/approach – A FEM model of the human torso is built from radiographic and MRI scans of the patients, and then the RFA treatment “dynamically optimized” by controlling currents in multiple external electrodes, in such a way to drive currents in the desired regions, burning the tumor while trying to preserve healthy regions. A suitable cellular death model is considered in order to achieve an effective description of the biological modifications in the tumor volume.Findings – A numerical method to plan the RFA treatment of hepatic tumors has been defined, aiming to preserve as much as possible healthy tissues.Research limitations/implications – The method depends on the knowledge of inner structure and properti...