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 of that modeling for the local heating due to radiofrequency thermal ablation. A model is developed for the current and the associated electric field produced by a radiofrequency ablation probe. The temperature distributions resulting from the induced ohmic currents in the surrounding material are considered. A comparison is made between the theoretic temperature profiles and 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 success of the modeling. Successful modeling should lead to methods for optimization of the ablation procedure, especially as it is used in interventional MRI.