Planning of the hepatocellular carcinoma's ablation by three-dimensional ultrasound:a preliminary study

Abstract

Objective To discusse the feasibility and application value of the computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning based on the three dimensional ultrasound. Methods Forty three-dimensional ultrasound images of 39 patients with 40 tumors' maximum diameter between 21 to 70 mm were collected and then acquired image segmentation and visualzation. The computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning based on three dimensional ultrasound was comparied with the artificial ablation planning based on two dimensional ultrasound to find out the differences in the success rate, damage rate, time-consuming and the number of insertions between these two methods. Results Compared with the artificial ablation planning based on two dimensional ultrasound, the computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning had a higher success rate(92.31% vs 53.85%, P=0.000), lower damage rate(7.50% vs 25.00%, P=0.034), shorter time-consuming(44.0 s vs 263.0 s, P=0.000) and less insersion times(3 vs 4, P=0.009). Conclusions The computer-assisted liver cancer ablation planning based on three dimensional ultrasound is more efficient and safety than the traditional way. Key words: Ultrasonography, three-dimensional; Liver neoplasms; Catheter ablation; Therapy, computer-assisted