Fusion Imaging in the Guidance of Thermal Ablations

Abstract

Image-guided thermal ablations are having an increasingly widespread effect on the treatment of several different abdominal conditions, and particularly on the treatment of liver and kidney tumors. In other conditions, such as in the case of pancreatic cancers, image-guided thermal ablations are still under investigation, but some studies showed promising results. Regardless the target organ to be treated, imaging represents one of the most important aspects for a safe and effective application of these techniques. To improve the image guidance in thermal ablations, some systems have been developed to fuse together two or more imaging modalities, providing the operator a real-time visualization of different information during the treatment. In the present review, the principles of fusion imaging will be described, and the principal application in the abdomen will be illustrated.

Role of Fusion Imaging in Image-Guided Thermal Ablations

“…With recent advances in technology, fusion imaging (FI) techniques in image-guided ablations have become more and more applied in clinical practice [ 1 , 2 , 3 ].…”