Ablation Planning System Skin Temperature Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current thermal ablation procedures face challenges in ensuring patient safety due to late detection of adverse effects from incorrect applicator positioning and treatment parameters, leading to skin irritation and burns, as clinicians struggle to predict temperature changes at the skin surface during complex treatments.
Innovation Solution
An ablation therapy planning system that predicts skin temperature by calculating isotherms or isodose lines, using thermal models and image registration to determine the skin location, and raises alarms when temperature thresholds are exceeded, thereby preventing skin damage and improving safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If thermal ablation is performed with real-time monitoring of multiple treatment parameters, then treatment effectiveness is improved, but the complexity of monitoring and detecting adverse effects increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the skin temperature monitoring function from the complex real-time monitoring system. By specifically isolating skin temperature prediction through thermal models and isotherm calculation, the system focuses monitoring efforts on the most critical safety parameter (skin temperature) rather than attempting to monitor all treatment parameters equally, thus reducing overall monitoring complexity while maintaining safety reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by predicting skin temperature before the ablation procedure begins. The system calculates isotherms and predicts skin temperature at the start of treatment, allowing clinicians to prevent skin damage before it occurs rather than detecting and responding to adverse effects after they manifest, thereby simplifying real-time monitoring requirements.
2Productivity
If clinicians monitor all treatment aspects simultaneously, then treatment outcome is optimized, but adverse effects are detected late or undetected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by continuously calculating and comparing predicted skin temperature against safety thresholds during the ablation procedure. The system provides real-time feedback to clinicians through visual displays of isotherms and temperature predictions, enabling timely detection and response to potential skin damage without requiring clinicians to manually monitor all treatment parameters simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces thermal models and isotherm calculation as intermediary tools between the ablation device and the clinician. These intermediaries automatically process treatment parameters and skin location data to produce skin temperature predictions, freeing clinicians from direct monitoring of complex treatment parameters while maintaining optimized treatment outcomes through automated safety monitoring.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If skin temperature is predicted using thermal models and image registration, then skin damage is prevented, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by utilizing existing medical imaging data (CT, MRI, ultrasound) for multiple purposes: both for treatment planning and for skin location identification. The image registration system leverages already-acquired anatomical images to determine skin position, eliminating the need for separate skin marking procedures or additional imaging specifically for skin location, thus reducing overall system complexity while preventing skin damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating a virtual replica of the patient's anatomy through image registration and thermal modeling. Instead of directly measuring skin temperature with physical sensors during the procedure, the system creates a computational copy (digital twin) of the thermal field distribution, allowing indirect but comprehensive temperature prediction across the skin surface without adding complex physical measurement equipment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively reduces the risk of skin damage by providing real-time temperature predictions and alerts during both treatment planning and execution, ensuring safer thermal ablation procedures by integrating skin temperature monitoring and customizable alarm settings.
Implementation Method 1
a thermal model is used to estimate the temperature at the skin location. Based on the temperature estimate, the ablation therapy planning system raises an alarm if the temperature at the skin location is above or below a certain threshold
Data Source
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AI summary
It is an object of the invention to improve the patient safety during thermal ablation. This object is achieved by an ablation therapy planning system, configured to carry out the steps of: receiving a medical image of a patient, and receiving an input defining an intended treatment location for one or more thermal applicators relative to a skin location and one or more intended treatment parameters and determining a location of a skin of the patient and estimating a temperature or thermal dose at the skin location resulting from the intended treatment location and one or more intended treatment parameters and raising an alarm if the calculated temperature or thermal dose at the skin location is above or below a certain threshold.