Abstrait
A numerical analysis of the ablation of large tumors using gamma-titanium RF electrodes.
Mohammed S Ahmed, Mohammed El-Wakad, Mohammed A Hassan
Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) is an alternative treatment for liver cancer to the surgical intervention preferred by surgeons. However, the main challenge remains the use of RF for the ablation of large tumours (i.e., tumours with a diameter of >3 cm). For large tumours, RFA takes a large duration in the ablation process compared with surgery, which increases patient pain. Therefore, RFA for large tumours is not preferred by surgeons. The currently materials used in RF electrodes, such as the nickel-titanium alloy (nitinol), are characterized by low thermal and electrical conductivities. On the other hand, the use of materials that have high thermal and electrical conductivities, such as titanium aluminide alloy (gamma titanium), produces more thermal energy for tumours. In this paper, we developed a cool-tip RF electrode model that uses nickeltitanium alloy and replaced it with titanium aluminide alloy by using the Finite Element Model (FEM). The aim of this paper is to study the effect of the thermal and electrical conductivities of gamma titanium on the ablation volume. Results showed that the proposed design of the electrode increased the ablation rate by 1 cm3/minute and 6.3 cm3/10 minutes, with a decrease in the required time ablation. Finally, the proposed model reduces the ablation time and damages healthy tissue while increasing the ablation volume from 22.5% cm3 to 62.5% cm3 in ten minutes compared to recent studies.