On the feasibility of wireless radio frequency ablation using nanowire antennas.

Nicholas J. Rommelfanger,Guosong Hong

doi:10.1063/5.0053189

Abstract

Radio frequency ablation (RFA) is a proven technique for eliminating cancerous or dysfunctional tissues in the body. However, the delivery of RFA electrodes to deep tissues causes damage to overlying healthy tissues, while a minimally invasive RFA technique would limit damage to targeted tissues alone. In this manuscript, we propose a wireless RFA technique relying on the absorption of radio frequencies (RFs) by gold nanowires in vivo and the deep penetration of RF into biological tissues. Upon optimizing the dimensions of the gold nanowires and the frequency of the applied RF for breast cancer and myocardium tissues, we find that heating rates in excess of 2000 K/s can be achieved with high spatial resolution in vivo, enabling short heating durations for ablation and minimizing heat diffusion to surrounding tissues. The results suggest that gold nanowires can act as “radiothermal” agents to concentrate heating within targeted tissues, negating the need to implant bulky electrodes for tissue ablation.

Highlights

Radio frequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure in which an alternating current with a frequency of 400–500 kHz is passed through an electrode to produce Joule heating and destroy dysfunctional tissues in vivo.[1]
The high spatial resolution of RFA is enabled by the 64 microelectrodes in the multifunctional balloon catheter, providing a promising alternative to clinical RFA practice in which lesions are created by manually moving a single-channel RFA electrode
Our simulations confirm the feasibility of using free-space radio frequencies (RFs) irradiation to produce efficient, localized thermal ablation in biological tissues with high spatial resolution

Summary

Introduction

Radio frequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure in which an alternating current with a frequency of 400–500 kHz is passed through an electrode to produce Joule heating and destroy dysfunctional tissues in vivo.[1] Depending on the type of dysfunctional tissue targets, RFA has been performed to destroy abnormal electrical pathways in the cardiac tissue,[2,3,4] cancerous tissues,[5,6] and renal sympathetic nerves contributing to refractory hypertension.[7,8] One of the critical challenges of RFA implantation arises from the use of large electrodes with a tip size of a few millimeters, resulting in excessive tissue damage during insertion and removal as well as limited spatial resolution of the ablation.[9] the insertion of RFA electrodes requires an invasive procedure to dissect the superficial tissues since the alternating current needs to be delivered to the tip of the electrode via a wired interface.[10]. The high spatial resolution of RFA is enabled by the 64 microelectrodes in the multifunctional balloon catheter, providing a promising alternative to clinical RFA practice in which lesions are created by manually moving a single-channel RFA electrode

Methods

Results

Conclusion