Radiofrequency ablation combined with conductive fluid-based dopants (saline normal and colloidal gold): computer modeling and ex vivo experiments

Abstract

Background The volume of the coagulation zones created during radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is limited by the appearance of roll-off. Doping the tissue with conductive fluids, e.g., gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) could enlarge these zones by delaying roll-off. Our goal was to characterize the electrical conductivity of a substrate doped with AuNPs in a computer modeling study and ex vivo experiments to investigate their effect on coagulation zone volumes. Methods The electrical conductivity of substrates doped with normal saline or AuNPs was assessed experimentally on agar phantoms. The computer models, built and solved on COMSOL Multiphysics, consisted of a cylindrical domain mimicking liver tissue and a spherical domain mimicking a doped zone with 2, 3 and 4 cm diameters. Ex vivo experiments were conducted on bovine liver fragments under three different conditions: non-doped tissue (ND Group), 2 mL of 0.9% NaCl (NaCl Group), and 2 mL of AuNPs 0.1 wt% (AuNPs Group). Results The theoretical analysis showed that adding normal saline or colloidal gold in concentrations lower than 10% only modifies the electrical conductivity of the doped substrate with practically no change in the thermal characteristics. The computer results showed a relationship between doped zone size and electrode length regarding the created coagulation zone. There was good agreement between the ex vivo and computational results in terms of transverse diameter of the coagulation zone. Conclusions Both the computer and ex vivo experiments showed that doping with AuNPs can enlarge the coagulation zone, especially the transverse diameter and hence enhance sphericity.

A novel bronchoscopic guided non-invasive treatment for lung nodule

“…Saline infusion into the target site of the lung could be a solution to this air-insulator challenge. Many studies have examined the enhancing role of ablation volume using conductive uids such as hypertonic saline (0.113 S/m) or gold nanoparticles (0.138 S/m) 24 . However, the E-GaIn used in this study has extremely high conductance (3.4 10 6 S/m).…”

“…In addition, E-GaIn showed excellent distribution controllability (bronchial airway only); in contrast, most conductive uids have poor distribution control, leading to irregular or unpredictable ablation 25 . These differences account for the fact that the role of such conductive uids is mainly subject to the delaying the cessation of RF power due to a sudden increase in electrical impedance 24,26 . Conversely, the bronchial electrode injected into the bronchial tree for CAROL ablation functioned as an RF electrode.…”

Conversion of the bronchial tree into a conforming electrode to ablate the lung nodule in a porcine model

“…Saline infusion into the target site of the lung could be a solution to this air-insulator challenge. Many studies have examined the enhancing role of ablation volume using conductive fluids such as hypertonic saline (0.113 S/m) or gold nanoparticles (0.138 S/m) 27 – 29 . However, the E-GaIn used in this study has extremely high conductance (3.4 × 10 6 S/m).…”

Green-Synthesized Silver Nanoparticle–Assisted Radiofrequency Ablation for Improved Thermal Treatment Distribution

“…In practice, the concentration of 5 mg/mL of nanoparticles was validated as the optimal concentration compared to 10 and 20 mg/mL, which can be explained by the heterogeneity of the ablated tissue [ 60 , 61 ]. Moreover, as can be seen from Figure 17 , the highest concentration of nanomaterials lowers the ablation temperature over 62 °C making it possible to conclude that the high concentration of nanoparticles can be a limiting factor during thermal ablation.…”