Software Tool for the Analysis of the Coagulation Zone from Multipolar Radiofrequency Ablation

Percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation is becoming a standard minimal invasive procedure for treatment of primary liver tumors. In clinical practice, knowledge about geometry and expected size of the coagulation is essential to prevent local tumor recurrence. Particularly the heat-sink effects of large vessels in the vicinity of the electrode may lead to a smaller size of the coagulation zone. For the evaluation of multipolar RF ablation studies with ex-vivo porcine livers, a novel software tool is presented. The tool supports manual contouring of the coagulation in digital photographs from liver slices. Based on geometric measurements of the RF applicators, deformations of the liver specimens are compensated. Furthermore, the software tool supports automated quantification of a large number of experiments.