Computational Modeling of Thermal Ablation Zones in the Liver: A Systematic Review

This systematic review aims to identify, evaluate, and summarize the findings of the literature on existing computational models for radiofrequency and microwave thermal liver ablation planning and compare their accuracy.

A systematic literature search was performed in the MEDLINE and Web of Science databases. Characteristics of the computational model and validation method of the included articles were retrieved.

The literature search identified 780 articles, of which 35 were included. A total of 19 articles focused on simulating radiofrequency ablation (RFA) zones, and 16 focused on microwave ablation (MWA) zones. Out of the 16 articles simulating MWA, only 2 used in vivo experiments to validate their simulations. Out of the 19 articles simulating RFA, 10 articles used in vivo validation. Dice similarity coefficients describing the overlap between in vivo experiments and simulated RFA zones varied between 0.418 and 0.728, with mean surface deviations varying between 1.1 mm and 8.67 mm.

Computational models to simulate ablation zones of MWA and RFA show considerable heterogeneity in model type and validation methods. It is currently unknown which model is most accurate and best suitable for use in clinical practice.