Patient-specific temperature distribution prediction in laser interstitial thermal therapy: single-irradiation data-driven method

Abstract

Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) has been popular for treating brain tumours and epilepsy. The strict control of tissue thermal damage extent is crucial for LITT. Temperature prediction is useful for predicting thermal damage extent. Accurately predicting in vivo brain tissue temperature is challenging due to the temperature dependence and the individual variations in tissue properties. Considering these factors is essential for improving the temperature prediction accuracy. Objective: To present a method for predicting patient-specific tissue temperature distribution within a target lesion area in the brain during LITT. Approach: A magnetic resonance temperature imaging (MRTI) data-driven estimation model was constructed and combined with a modified Pennes bioheat transfer equation (PBHE) to predict patient-specific temperature distribution. In the PBHE for temperature prediction, the individual specificity and temperature dependence of thermal tissue properties and blood perfusion, as well as the individual specificity of optical tissue properties were considered. Only MRTI data during one laser irradiation were required in the method. This enables the prediction of patient-specific temperature distribution and the resulting thermal damage region for subsequent ablations. Main results: Patient-specific temperature prediction was evaluated based on patients’ data acquired during LITT in the brain, using intraoperative MRTI data as the reference standard. Our method significantly improved the prediction performance of temperature distribution and thermal damage region. The average root mean square error was decreased by 69.54%, the average intraclass correlation coefficients was increased by 37.5%, the average Dice similarity coefficient was increased by 43.14% for thermal damage region prediction. Significance: The proposed method can predict temperature distribution and thermal damage region at an individual patient level during LITT, providing a promising approach to assist in patient-specific treatment planning for LITT in the brain.