Offline RF thermal ablation planning using CT/MRI scan data

Abstract

In this paper, steady state temperature variations in the human brain due to different electrical and physical changes have been studied considering different thermal ablation treatment requirements using RF probe. Initially, a subject specific voxel-based electrical model has been constructed from Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) formatted Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance (MR) based image stacks with different pixel characteristics using the Hounsfield unit extraction technique. This subject specific electrical model that consists of different dielectric constant and conductivity, considering different anatomical organs and tissues is simulated using commercially available finite integral technique (FIT) based EM simulation software CST Microwave Studio Ò . This study clearly shows the possibility of subject specific precise offline microwave thermal ablation treatment planning.