Mathematical Modeling of Directional Effects of Perfusion on Liver Tissue Temperature of Radio Frequency Ablation

Thermal ablation of a tumor in the liver with Radio Frequency energy can be accomplished by using a probe inserted into the tissue under the guidance of CT imaging. The extent of ablation can be significantly affected by the heat loss due to the high perfusion in the liver, especially when the tumor is located close a large vessel. A mathematical model is thus presented here to investigate the heat sinking effect of a large vessel, combing of a 3D two-equation coupled bio-heat model and a 1D model of convective heat transport across the blood vessel surface. It has been found that the length of the ablation duration and the amount of ablation power highly depend on the distance between the ablation probe and the large vessel. Moreover, based on the model simulation in the study, the ablation of tissue around a large vessel under temperature control mode could lead to excessive power input and thus an oversized lesion zone.