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An in-vitro animal experiment on metal implants' thermal effect on radiofrequency ablation
Zhen-Wen Lin1, Hong Chu, Fan He
1Minimally Invasive Interventional Treatment Center, Shenzhen People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China.
Background:
To explore metal implants' thermal effect on radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and ascertain distance-thermal relationship between the metal implants and radiofrequency (RF) electrode.
Methods:
Metal implants models were established in seven in-vitro porcine livers using silver clips or 125I seeds. RFA were conducted centering the RF electrode axis1 cm away from them, with one side containing a metal implants model the test group and the other side the control group. The thermometric needles were used to measure multi-point temperatures in order to compare the time-distance-temperature difference between the two groups. The gross scopes of the ablation of the two groups were measured and the tissues were analyzed for microscopic histology.
Results:
At the ablation times of 8, 12, and 15 min, the average multi-point temperatures of the test group and the control group were 48.2±18.07°C, 51.5±19.57°C, 54.6±19.75°C, and 48.6±17.69°C, 52.2±19.73°C, 54.9±19.24°C, respectively, and the differences were not statistically significant (n=126, P>0.05). At the ablation times of 12 and 15 min, the ablation scopes of the test group and the control group were (horizontal/longitudinal diameter) 1.55/3.48 cm, 1.89/3.72 cm, and 1.56/3.48 cm, 1.89/3.72 cm, respectively, and the differences were not statistically significant (n=14, P>0.05). The two groups had the same manifestations in microscopy.
Conclusions:
Metal implants do not cause significant thermal effect on RFA.
