Effect of Microbubble-Enhanced Ultrasound on Radiofrequency Ablation of Rabbit Liver

Microbubble-enhanced ultrasound (MEUS) can non-invasively disrupt and block liver blood perfusion. It may potentially overcome the heat sink effect during a thermal ablation and consequently enhance radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the liver. We propose a new strategy combining RFA with MEUS. For ultrasound treatment, an 831-kHz air-backed focused transducer directed 400-cycle bursts at 4.3 MPa to the liver at a 9-Hz rate. The treatment was nucleated by a lipids microbubble forming MEUS. Eighteen surgically exposed rabbit livers were treated using MEUS combined with RFA; the other 32 livers were treated using MEUS (n = 14) or RFA (n = 18) alone and served as the controls. Contrast ultrasound imaging confirmed that MEUS treatment significantly reduced liver blood perfusion by cutting contrast peak intensities in half (44.7%-54.1%) without severe liver function damage. The ablated liver volume treated using MEUS combined with RFA was 2.8 times greater than that treated using RFA alone. In conclusion, RFA of the liver can be safely and greatly enhanced by combination with MEUS pre-treatment.