Calculated RF electric field and temperature distributions in RF thermal ablation: Comparison with gel experiments and liver imaging

The present paper is a study of theoretic modeling and experimental tests o f that modeling for the local heating due to radiofrequency thermal ablatio n. A model is developed for the current and the associated electric held pr oduced by a radiofrequency ablation probe. The temperature distributions re sulting from the induced ohmic currents in the surrounding material are con sidered. A comparison is made between the theoretic temperature profiles an d the shapes of thermal ablation 'lesions' produced in a controlled gelatin sample experiment. Comparison with the contours of human thermally induced Liver lesions found in MRI studies also provides a validation of the succe ss of the modeling. Successful modeling should lead to methods for optimiza tion of the ablation procedure, especially as it is used in interventional MRI.