title: Cryosurgery planning using bubble packing in 3D.
abstract: As part of an ongoing project to develop automated tools for cryosurgery planning, the current study focuses on the development of a 3D bubble packing method. A proof-of-concept for the new method is demonstrated on five prostate models, reconstructed from ultrasound images. The new method is a modification of an established method in 2D. Ellipsoidal bubbles are packed in the volume of the prostate in the current study; such bubbles can be viewed as a first-order approximation of a frozen region around a single cryoprobe. When all cryoprobes are inserted to the same depth, optimum planning was found to occur at about 60% of the length of the prostate (measured from its apex), which leads to cooling of approximately 75% of the prostate volume below a specific temperature threshold of - 22 degrees C. Bubble packing has the potential to dramatically reduce the run time for automated planning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Daigo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Yoed
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rabin
mesh_terms: D001831:Body Temperature; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011467:Prostate / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000379:methods; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*