title: A study of the sink effect by blood vessels in radiofrequency ablation.
abstract: The objective of the current work was to study the sink effect in radiofrequency ablation (RFA) caused by a blood vessel located close to an electrode in a two-compartment numerical model, consisting of a spherical tumor embedded in healthy liver tissue. Several blood vessels of different sizes were studied at different distances from the electrode. It was found that when a straight blood vessel, cylindrical in shape, is located parallel to the electrode, the minimum distance for a drop of only 10% in the isothermal treatment volume above 50°C, compared to the model without the blood vessel, varies from 4.49 mm (for a vessel of 2mm in diameter) to 20.02 mm (for a vessel 20mm in diameter). The results can be used as a guideline to clinical practitioners, in order to quickly assess the potential impact of existing blood vessels on the resulting treatment volume.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: gzorba@physics.auth.gr.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zorbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: theosama@auth.gr.
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Samaras
mesh_terms: D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D004560:Electricity; D004566:Electrodes; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000098:blood supply; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: Blood vessel; Finite difference; Lesion volume; Pennes bioheat equation; Radiofrequency ablation