Interactive Approximation of the Ablation Zone incorporating Heatsink Effects for Radiofrequency Ablation

Percutaneous radiofrequecy ablation (RFA) is becoming a standard minimal invasive procedure in the clinical routine. However, the control of shape and size of the ablation zone is unsatisfactory, especially close to large vessels. In this work, our aim is to present a novel image based, fast approximation of the ablation zone with respect to the cooling blood flow, which decreases thermal ablation. For that, patient independent numerical precomputations of the ablation zone are performed and stored in a look-up table. Subsequently, the look-up table is used to approximate the patient dependent necrosis. In our prototypical software assistant, the physician is able to place RF applicator models with corresponding approximated ablation zones, to interactively evaluate the estimated necrosis caused by ablation.