Abstract
In this study, a fully coupled electro-thermo-mechanical model of radiofrequency (RF)-assisted cardiac ablation has been developed, incorporating fluid–structure interaction, thermal relaxation time effects and porous media approach. A non-Fourier based bio-heat transfer model has been used for predicting the temperature distribution and ablation zone during the cardiac ablation. The blood has been modeled as a Newtonian fluid and the velocity fields are obtained utilizing the Navier–Stokes equations. The thermal stresses induced due to the heating of the cardiac tissue have also been accounted. Parametric studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of cardiac tissue porosity, thermal relaxation time effects, electrode insertion depths and orientations on the treatment outcomes of the cardiac ablation. The results are presented in terms of predicted temperature distributions and ablation volumes for different cases of interest utilizing a finite element based COMSOL Multiphysics software. It has been found that electrode insertion depth and orientation has a significant effect on the treatment outcomes of cardiac ablation. Further, porosity of cardiac tissue also plays an important role in the prediction of temperature distribution and ablation volume during RF-assisted cardiac ablation. Moreover, thermal relaxation times only affect the treatment outcomes for shorter treatment times of less than 30 s.
Highlights
Invasive thermal therapies are nowadays recognized as the fourth pillar of interventional oncology
Moving further in this direction, we report a fully coupled electro-thermo-mechanical model to provide more realistic and accurate predictions of the treatment outcomes during the RF-assisted cardiac ablation
We provide details of a systematic analysis of the effects of porosity, thermal relaxation times, blood flow velocity, electrode insertion depth and electrode orientation on the temperature distribution and ablation volume
Summary
Invasive thermal therapies are nowadays recognized as the fourth pillar of interventional oncology. Pennes bioheat transfer model relies on several assumptions, viz., considers a uniform perfusion rate, neglects blood flow direction and the artery-vein countercurrent arrangement, and considers arterial blood temperature to be constant at 37 ◦C [11] To address this issue, porous media approach has been utilized which is based on fewer assumptions as compared to Pennes equation and provides a better prediction of the temperature distribution during thermal ablative procedures [4,11,12]. Significant efforts have been made in the past to refine the numerical models of cardiac ablation and to mitigate the deviations obtained in the numerical and experimental predications Moving further in this direction, we report a fully coupled electro-thermo-mechanical model to provide more realistic and accurate predictions of the treatment outcomes during the RF-assisted cardiac ablation. Parametric studies have been conducted to systematically investigate the effect of porosity, thermal relaxation times, blood flow velocity, electrode insertion depth and electrode orientation on the treatment outcomes of RF-assisted cardiac ablative procedures
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