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Updated: Mar 17, 2026
Thermal Ablation for the Treatment of Abdominal Tumors
Published on: March 7, 2011
A review of radiofrequency ablation: Large target tissue necrosis and mathematical modelling
Bing Zhang1, Michael A J Moser2, Edwin M Zhang3
1Complex and Intelligent Systems Centre, School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China; Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada.
Abstract:
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an effective clinical method for tumour ablation with minimum intrusiveness. However, the use of RFA is mostly restricted to small tumours, especially those <3cm in diameter. This paper discusses the state-of-the-art of RFA, drawn from experimental and clinical results, for large tumours (i.e. ⩾3cm in diameter). In particular, the paper analyses clinical results related to target tissue necrosis (TTN) and mathematical modelling of the RFA procedure to understand the mechanism whereby the TTN is limited to under 3cm with RFA. This paper also discusses a strategy of controlling of the temperature of target tissue in the RFA procedure with the state-of-art device, which has the potential to increase the size of TTN. This paper ends with a discussion of some future ideas to solve the so-called 3-cm problem with RFA.
