Finite-element analysis of hepatic cryoablation around a large blood vessel

Cheolkyun Kim, Ann P. O'Rourke, James A. Will, David M. Mahvi, John G. Webster

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cryoablation is a minimally invasive ablation technique for primary and metastatic hepatic tumors. Inadequate freezing around large blood vessels due to the warm blood flow can lead to local recurrence, and thus, necessitates close application of a cryoprobe to the large blood vessels. In this study, we constructed a perfusion model with an ex vivo bovine liver and ablated the tissue around a large blood vessel with one or two cryoprobes applied to the side of the vessel. The finite-element computer model developed in our previous study was modified to include a blood vessel and its convective heat transfer to the vicinity of the blood vessel. We compared the predicted simulation results to those acquired from this ex vivo perfusion model. The results indicate that blood vessels act as a heat source and generate steep temperature profiles in the area next to the large blood vessel. After validation, the maximum allowable distance between the cryoprobe and the large blood vessel for successful cryoablation was presented. The results of this study should be considered when placing cryoprobes in the vicinity of large blood vessels.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number20
Pages (from-to)2087-2093
Number of pages7
JournalIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
Volume55
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2008

Funding

Manuscript received June 15, 2007; revised January 8, 2008. This work was supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) under Grant DK58839. Asterisk indicates corresponding author. C. Kim is with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). A. P. O’Rourke and D. M. Mahvi are with the Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53792 USA (e-mail: ap.orourke@ hosp.wisc.edu; [email protected]). J. A. Will is with the Departments of Pathobiology, SVM and Animal Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). ∗J. G. Webster is with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TBME.2008.919837

Keywords

  • Ablation
  • Blood perfusion
  • Blood vessel
  • Cryoablation
  • Cryosurgery
  • Ex vivo
  • Finite-element (FE) modeling
  • In vivo
  • Liver ablation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomedical Engineering

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