Theoretical modeling for radiofrequency ablation: state-of-the-art and challenges for the future
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BioMed Central
Open Access
Review
Theoretical modeling for radiofrequency ablation: state-of-the-art and challenges for the future Enrique J Berjano* Address: Center for Research and Innovation on Bioengineering, Valencia Polytechnic University, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain Email: Enrique J Berjano* - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 18 April 2006 BioMedical Engineering OnLine2006, 5:24
doi:10.1186/1475-925X-5-24
Received: 25 January 2006 Accepted: 18 April 2006
This article is available from: http://www.biomedical-engineering-online.com/content/5/1/24 © 2006Berjano; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract Radiofrequency ablation is an interventional technique that in recent years has come to be employed in very different medical fields, such as the elimination of cardiac arrhythmias or the destruction of tumors in different locations. In order to investigate and develop new techniques, and also to improve those currently employed, theoretical models and computer simulations are a powerful tool since they provide vital information on the electrical and thermal behavior of ablation rapidly and at low cost. In the future they could even help to plan individual treatment for each patient. This review analyzes the state-of-the-art in theoretical modeling as applied to the study of radiofrequency ablation techniques. Firstly, it describes the most important issues involved in this methodology, including the experimental validation. Secondly, it points out the present limitations, especially those related to the lack of an accurate characterization of the biological tissues. After analyzing the current and future benefits of this technique it finally suggests future lines and trends in the research of this area.
Introduction Radiofrequency (RF) techniques have been used to heat biological tissues for many years. However, in recent years its use for new medical applications has expanded enormously [1]. To illustrate this, although the term "radiofrequency ablation" is relatively new, the number of papers published per year on this topic has risen from 19 in 1990 to 828 in 2005. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a (more or less invasive) interventional technique that in recent years has come to be employed in very different medical fields, such as the elimination of cardiac arrhythmias (using catheter or intraoperatively) [2], or the destruction of tumors in different locations (liver [3], kidney [4], lung [5], bone [6], prostate [7], and breast [8]). The procedure is based on RF
(≈500 kHz) electrical currents passing through biological tissue and so achieving the controlled heating of the zone with the highest power density (maximal SAR, Specific Absorption Rate). From a procedural point of view, RFA generally use
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