Necrotized Tissue Volume Modeling via Heated Vapor Pathway Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing evaporation models in percutaneous thermal ablation procedures fail to accurately predict the volume of necrotized tissue due to inadequate accounting for the behavior of heated vapor, leading to inaccurate tissue removal or damage to healthy tissue.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that simulate the ablation site in a computer model to detect preferential pathways for heated vapor and determine the proportion of vapor escaping, allowing for a more accurate simulation of necrotized tissue volume by modeling heat distribution and vapor movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If existing evaporation models are used to predict necrotized tissue volume, then the modeling process is simple, but the prediction accuracy is poor due to inadequate accounting for vapor behavior
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the vapor transport process into distinct pathways: preferential pathways (where vapor escapes through existing channels) and non-preferential pathways (where vapor diffuses through tissue). This segmentation allows the model to accurately predict vapor behavior without requiring a complete redesign of the entire evaporation model, thus improving prediction accuracy while managing complexity through modular approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces vapor as an intermediary substance that mediates heat transfer between the ablation site and surrounding tissue. By modeling vapor generation, transport through preferential pathways, and condensation effects, the system accurately predicts necrotized tissue volume without directly solving complex thermal conduction equations throughout the entire tissue volume.
2Measurement precision
If vapor behavior is adequately accounted for in the model, then the prediction accuracy of necrotized tissue volume improves, but the computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the vapor transport phenomenon from the broader thermal ablation problem and models it separately through preferential pathways. By isolating this specific mechanism, the system can accurately predict vapor behavior and its impact on tissue necrosis without having to resolve the entire complex thermal field simultaneously, thus managing computational complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the modeling approach by introducing pathway-specific parameters (such as pathway conductivity, vapor flow rate, and condensation coefficients) that capture vapor behavior effects. This parameter-based approach allows accurate prediction of necrotized tissue volume while keeping computations manageable, as the complex vapor dynamics are summarized through key parameters rather than full field simulations.
3Ease of operation
If accurate visualization of tissue treatment is provided, then physicians can optimize ablation device position and energy settings, but the modeling system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a computational copy or digital twin of the patient's tissue anatomy and vapor transport pathways. This virtual model allows physicians to visualize predicted tissue treatment outcomes before performing the actual ablation procedure. By working with this copy rather than directly manipulating complex physical systems, the interface for physicians remains intuitive while the underlying complexity is contained in the computational model.
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
This approach enables precise planning and minimization of complications by providing accurate visualizations of tissue treatment, allowing physicians to optimize ablation device position and energy settings for complete target tissue treatment while avoiding healthy tissue damage.
Implementation Method 1
Percutaneous thermal ablation is a procedure whereby pathological tissue is necrotized using high temperatures generated by a probe or needle inserted into the body
Implementation Method 2
the vapor that forms is not able to leave the body
Implementation Method 3
Existing evaporation models do not adequately account for the behavior of this vapor
Data Source
AI summary
A system for modeling a necrotized tissue volume in an ablation procedure includes a radiology workstation designed and configured to provide a computer model of a volume of human tissue based on corporeal image data, simulate an ablation site in the computer model, detect, in the computer model, at least a preferential pathway for heated vapor produced due to ablation of the tissue, wherein the at least a preferential pathway intersects the ablation site, determine a proportion of vapor escaping to the at least a preferential pathway during an ablation procedure, determiner a heat distribution at the ablation site as a function of the distribution of vapor, and generate a simulation of a necrotized tissue volume in the volume of tissue, wherein the simulation of the necrotized tissue volume represents a volume of tissue necrotized by heat during an ablation procedure performed at the ablation site.