RBE PhD Speaking Qualifiers
Yiwei Jiang
ICAP: Interactive Conformal Ablation Planning Toolkit with MR Thermometry Validation
December 7th, 2023
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Virtual Zoom Link: https://wpi.zoom.us/j/96499583841
Abstract: The goal of cancer treatment is to remove or kill malignant cells while preserving surrounding healthy cells. Among treatment methods, needle-based ultrasound thermal ablation is an option that involves the insertion of an applicator into the patient's body and the use of a small ultrasound transducer to vibrate tissue, producing heat. An ablation pattern for an arbitrarily shaped tumor can be approximated by moving the applicator to deposit heat in multiple locations and orientations. However, this conformal ablation process is challenging to control because of the complex interactions between tissue and ultrasound. To address this challenge, we built an interactive planning toolkit that allows a physician to perform the procedure multiple times in simulation and record the ablation trajectory once a desired result is achieved. To validate this method, a previously developed MR-conditional robot and physical ultrasound applicator were used to replicate the planned ablation in a phantom model. Magnetic Resonance Thermal Imaging (MRTi) was used to track temperature changes, allowing us to measure the thermal dose and identify the ablated region. In 4 ablations experiments, we achieved an average of 80.9\% overlap between the targeted tumor area and the actual ablated area, with minimal damage of 9.4\% affected surrounding tissues, demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach.
Advisor:
Professor Gregory Fischer, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Committee:
Professor Haichong (Kai) Zhang, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Professor Yihao Zheng, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)