Simulation of Image-Guided Microwave Ablation Therapy Using a Digital Twin Computational Model.

Emerging computational tools such as healthcare digital twin modeling are enabling the creation of patient-specific surgical planning, including microwave ablation to treat primary and secondary liver cancers. Healthcare digital twins (DTs) are anatomically one-to-one biophysical models constructed from structural, functional, and biomarker-based imaging data to simulate patient-specific therapies and guide clinical decision-making. In microwave ablation (MWA), tissue-specific factors including tissue perfusion, hepatic steatosis, and fibrosis affect therapeutic extent, but current thermal dosing guidelines do not account for these parameters.

The Image-to-Physical Liver Registration Sparse Data Challenge: comparison of state-of-the-art using a common dataset.

Purpose: Computational methods for image-to-physical registration during surgical guidance frequently rely on sparse point clouds obtained over a limited region of the organ surface. However, soft tissue deformations complicate the ability to accurately infer anatomical alignments from sparse descriptors of the organ surface. The Image-to-Physical Liver Registration Sparse Data Challenge introduced at SPIE Medical Imaging 2019 seeks to characterize the performance of sparse data registration methods on a common dataset to benchmark and identify effective tactics and limitations that will continue to inform the evolution of image-to-physical registration algorithms.

Automated catheter tip repositioning for intra-cardiac echocardiography.

Purpose: Intra-Cardiac Echocardiography (ICE) is a powerful imaging modality for guiding cardiac electrophysiology and structural heart interventions. ICE provides real-time observation of anatomy and devices, while enabling direct monitoring of potential complications. In single operator settings, the physician needs to switch back-and-forth between the ICE catheter and therapy device, making continuous ICE support impossible.

Fat Quantification Imaging and Biophysical Modeling for Patient-Specific Forecasting of Microwave Ablation Therapy.

Computational tools are beginning to enable patient-specific surgical planning to localize and prescribe thermal dosing for liver cancer ablation therapy. Tissue-specific factors (e.g.

Toward Image Data-Driven Predictive Modeling for Guiding Thermal Ablative Therapy.

Objective: Accurate prospective modeling of microwave ablation (MWA) procedures can provide powerful planning and navigational information to physicians. However, patient-specific tissue properties are generally unavailable and can vary based on factors such as relative perfusion and state of disease. Therefore, a need exists for modeling frameworks that account for variations in tissue properties.

Multiphysics modeling toward enhanced guidance in hepatic microwave ablation: a preliminary framework.

We compare a surface-driven, model-based deformation correction method to a clinically relevant rigid registration approach within the application of image-guided microwave ablation for the purpose of demonstrating improved localization and antenna placement in a deformable hepatic phantom. Furthermore, we present preliminary computational modeling of microwave ablation integrated within the navigational environment to lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive procedural planning and guidance framework. To achieve this, we employ a simple, retrospective model of microwave ablation after registration, which allows a preliminary evaluation of the combined therapeutic and navigational framework.

Characterization and correction of intraoperative soft tissue deformation in image-guided laparoscopic liver surgery.

Laparoscopic liver surgery is challenging to perform due to a compromised ability of the surgeon to localize subsurface anatomy in the constrained environment. While image guidance has the potential to address this barrier, intraoperative factors, such as insufflation and variable degrees of organ mobilization from supporting ligaments, may generate substantial deformation. The severity of laparoscopic deformation in humans has not been characterized, and current laparoscopic correction methods do not account for the mechanics of how intraoperative deformation is applied to the liver.

Deformation correction for image guided liver surgery: An intraoperative fidelity assessment.

Background: Although systems of 3-dimensional image-guided surgery are a valuable adjunct across numerous procedures, differences in organ shape between that reflected in the preoperative image data and the intraoperative state can compromise the fidelity of such guidance based on the image. In this work, we assessed in real time a novel, 3-dimensional image-guided operation platform that incorporates soft tissue deformation.

Methods: A series of 125 alignment evaluations were performed across 20 patients.

Improving Registration Robustness for Image-Guided Liver Surgery in a Novel Human-to-Phantom Data Framework.

In open image-guided liver surgery (IGLS), a sparse representation of the intraoperative organ surface can be acquired to drive image-to-physical registration. We hypothesize that uncharacterized error induced by variation in the collection patterns of organ surface data limits the accuracy and robustness of an IGLS registration. Clinical validation of such registration methods is challenged due to the difficulty in obtaining data representative of the true state of organ deformation.

Evaluation of model-based deformation correction in image-guided liver surgery via tracked intraoperative ultrasound.

Soft-tissue deformation represents a significant error source in current surgical navigation systems used for open hepatic procedures. While numerous algorithms have been proposed to rectify the tissue deformation that is encountered during open liver surgery, clinical validation of the proposed methods has been limited to surface-based metrics, and subsurface validation has largely been performed via phantom experiments. The proposed method involves the analysis of two deformation-correction algorithms for open hepatic image-guided surgery systems via subsurface targets digitized with tracked intraoperative ultrasound (iUS).

The anatomy of the aging aorta.

Age-associated changes to aortic anatomy and physiology have an effect on hemodynamics and play a large role in the genesis of cardiovascular pathologies including atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, and aortic aneurysm. Despite their recognized role in hemodynamics, the complete mechanism for aortic aging is still not clear and their full effects on cardiovascular pathologies are unknown. This article serves as a review of the normal anatomy of the human aorta and its known age-associated changes.