Temperature Probe Positioning for Ablation Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ablation procedures rely heavily on physician experience for placing temperature probes, which can lead to inadequate protection of organs at risk during ablation, as the success of protecting these regions depends on the skill of the physician performing the procedure.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that determine the planned position of a temperature probe based on geometric information of the ablation and protection regions, using an ablation plan that includes information on the position and shape of both regions, to accurately position the probe and monitor temperature changes, thereby enhancing the protection of organs at risk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If temperature probes are inserted based on physician experience and general rules, then the procedure can be performed with simple equipment and操作流程, but the protection of organs at risk becomes unreliable and depends on physician skill
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus determines the optimal position of the temperature probe in advance during the planning phase, before the actual ablation procedure begins. The planned position is calculated based on geometric information of the ablation region and protection region, allowing the physician to simply follow the pre-determined position during execution, thereby improving reliability without adding complexity to the procedure itself
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus acts as an intermediary between the geometric information of the regions and the physician's decision-making. It processes the spatial relationships between ablation and protection regions to generate an objective, data-driven probe position recommendation, replacing subjective experience-based positioning with an intermediate computational step that enhances protection reliability
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the temperature probe is positioned to accurately monitor the protection region, then the safety of the ablation procedure is improved, but the complexity of the procedure increases due to additional planning and positioning steps
Solution Approach 1:
The complex positioning calculation is performed in advance during the planning phase, generating a simple-to-follow recommended position. During the actual procedure, the physician only needs to position the probe according to this pre-calculated location, thereby reducing the operational complexity while ensuring accurate monitoring of the protection region's temperature exposure
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus replaces the manual, experience-based mechanical positioning process with an automated computational system that calculates the optimal probe position based on geometric data. This substitution eliminates the need for physician skill in estimating probe placement, providing objective guidance that improves temperature monitoring accuracy while simplifying the operational process
Data Source
AI summary
The invention refers to an apparatus allowing to determine a planned position of a temperature probe during a planning for an ablation procedure. The apparatus comprises an ablation plan providing unit (121) for providing an ablation plan, wherein the ablation plan comprises geometric information of an ablation region and of a protection region. The protection region should be protected from ablation. The geometric information comprises information on a position and shape of a respective region. A temperature probe position determination unit (122) is adapted to determine a planned position of the temperature probe, wherein the planned position of the temperature probe is determined based on the geometric information of the ablation region and of the protection region. The apparatus allows to increase the protection of regions that should be protected, like a specific organ, such that the security of an ablation procedure for a patient can also be increased.