Modelling of a bipolar stent-based electrode for thermal radio frequency ablation of tumours located in hollow organs

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper a numerical simulation analysis of a modified stent-based electrode is introduced to be used as a bipolar electrode for radio frequency ablation of tumours located in hollow organs. The purpose of this paper is to study the possibility of achieving a more regular volume of induced lesion with the presented electrode without imperilling the ductal organ where the tumour is located.

Design/methodology/approach

Three types of bipolar electrode configurations were considered, formed by two, three and five tubular segments. Numerical simulations were performed considering a tumour located in the bile duct, where two important blood vessels – the portal vein and the hepatic artery – have a significant impact due to the convective heat transfer caused by the blood flow (heat sink effect) which significantly affects the shape of lesion that is intended to induce in order to destroy the tumour.

Findings

The results obtained show that the five-segment electrode arrangement allows a regular volume for the induced lesion, independently of the different values of applied voltage considered.

Originality/value

The presented work introduces a numerical simulation analysis on a modified based-stent electrode previously studied. In this case, the electrode is configured so it can be used as a bipolar electrode, i.e., active and ground electrode are placed in the same device. Besides the results evinced by the obtained results, this kind of electrode avoids eventual skin burns that might occur due to the need of the return electrodes when monopolar electrodes are used.

Citation

Almeida, T.R. and Antunes, C.L. (2015), "Modelling of a bipolar stent-based electrode for thermal radio frequency ablation of tumours located in hollow organs", COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 1029-1042. https://doi.org/10.1108/COMPEL-10-2014-0267