Cryoablation is similar to radiosurgery in that a volume of neoplastic tissue is carefully killed while sparring healthy tissue around it. Interventional radiologists have a lot of advanced tools at their disposal to plan procedures so as to achieve the most targeted interventions. With cryoablation, on the other hand, planning is simple and often relies on physicians estimating in their mind how long to deliver therapy to given tissue.
Researchers from the Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York have developed a prediction tool that helps surgeons decide where to position the cryoablation probes and the length of the ablation time to use.
The researchers simulated how to create various ice ball sizes in different tissues using different probe configurations. These were validated against previously completed cryoablation procedures to verify the findings. Based on the results they created an easily searchable database that surgeons can query by inputting desired ice ball size and the tissue being worked with. As a result, the database returns the ideal probe spacing and ablation time that should be used on that tumor.
The research was published in Journal of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology: Development of a searchable database of cryoablation simulations, for use in treatment planning…