Description:
- Tissue monitoring during thermal treatment
Abstract
Researchers at USC have developed a novel method for real-time three-dimensional microwave-based thermal imaging that is both straightforward and accurate. Their solution first utilizes a superior approximation for the dielectric response of the tissue, leading to more accurate temperature estimates, and also leverages GPU parallel computing for faster processing, allowing for real-time analysis.
Benefit
- Provides thermal information in real-time
- Allows for three-dimensional imaging
- More accurate than existing dielectric estimation methods
Market Application
Thermal therapies, in which temperature is used to selectively heat tissues of interest, are currently used to treat diseases ranging from pain disorders to soft tissue cancers. The latter becomes particularly important in instances where surgical resection is not possible, as in the case of brain lesions. Though a variety of thermal therapy methods currently exist, in all cases thermal monitoring is necessary to ensure the accuracy of both treatment location and thermal dose. One of the most attractive platforms for thermal monitoring is noninvasive microwave imaging (such as MRI), in which changes in the dielectric properties of tissues are used to estimate temperature. Current estimation methods, however, suffer from low accuracy and are often too slow to implement in real-time.
Publications
Chen, G. B. et al. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 2018, 65 (3), 528-538.
Other
- Working prototype
- Platform has been validated using realistic numerical model of interstitial thermal therapy for deep-seated brain lesions
- Available for Exclusive and Non-Exclusive License