Computer aided design and optimization of probes for hepatic microwave ablation.

摘要

Microwave ablation is an interventional technique for thermal destruction of liver, and other soft tissue, tumors. Computer models of ablation are frequently used as a quick, inexpensive means of evaluating devices during the design phase, validation of devices in tissue phantoms and animal models, and to understand the impact of various physical phenomena on ablation outcome.;In chapter 2, I review computer models of varying complexity and accuracy that have been used to simulate microwave tissue ablation.;In chapter 3, I report the measurement of specific heat capacity and wideband dielectric properties of a liver phantom.;In chapter 4, I present a method to optimize coaxial antenna designs for hepatic microwave ablation using finite element method (FEM) models and a multiobjective genetic algorithm. I show how this method can be used to design a sliding choke antenna capable of creating spherical ablation zones adjustable up to 4 cm in diameter.;In chapter 5, I present a method for optimizing antenna designs robust to interpatient variability in tissue physical properties by coupling FEM models with a Bayesian VNSP stochastic optimization scheme.;In chapter 6, I present a FEM computer model to analyze the convective cooling effect due to blood flow in large vessels on hepatic microwave ablation.