Techniques for Temperature Monitoring of Myocardial Tissue Undergoing Radiofrequency Ablation Treatments: An Overview

Abstract

Cardiac radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has received substantial attention for the treatment of multiple arrhythmias. In this scenario, there is an ever-growing demand for monitoring the temperature trend inside the tissue as it may allow an accurate control of the treatment effects, with a consequent improvement of the clinical outcomes. There are many methods for monitoring temperature in tissues undergoing RFA, which can be divided into invasive and non-invasive. This paper aims to provide an overview of the currently available techniques for temperature detection in this clinical scenario. Firstly, we describe the heat generation during RFA, then we report the principle of work of the most popular thermometric techniques and their features. Finally, we introduce their main applications in the field of cardiac RFA to explore the applicability in clinical settings of each method.

Characterization of Miniature Probes for Cryosurgery, Thermal Ablation, and Irreversible Electroporation on Small Animals

“…They are also subjected measurement artifacts and various sensitivity to different tissue type. [ 25 ]…”

“…They are also subjected measurement artifacts and various sensitivity to different tissue type. [25] The experimental setup and the limitation of experimental conditions add to the error and uncertainty of the measurement. Primarily, the contact surface of the convective region, the radiation from the heating probe and the deformation of biological tissue due to probe placement should all be accounted for.…”

External Basic Hyperthermia Devices for Preclinical Studies in Small Animals

“…Another factor to take into consideration for temperature monitoring with thermocouples is the potential radiofrequency interaction. Application of capacitive hyperthermia may cause interaction between the conductive metallic components of the thermocouple and the electromagnetic field, resulting in measurement artefacts [ 34 , 35 ]. Additionally, self-heating of the metallic-based thermocouples could eventually cause overestimation of the tissue temperature [ 36 ].…”

Multiscale and Multiphysics Modeling of Anisotropic Cardiac RFCA: Experimental-Based Model Calibration via Multi-Point Temperature Measurements

“…Despite the extensive clinical achievements which result in a high success rate and low mortality, RFCA is still subject to several drawbacks. An excessive thermal increase can produce steam pops and unwanted tissue lesions ( Zaltieri et al, 2021 ). On the contrary, failure to achieve target temperatures can lead to incomplete tissue ablations, which may provoke recurrent arrhythmias that often require repeated clinical interventions.…”