title: Development of a Searchable Database of Cryoablation Simulations for Use in Treatment Planning.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To create and validate a planning tool for multiple-probe cryoablation, using simulations of ice ball size and shape for various ablation probe configurations, ablation times, and types of tissue ablated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ice ball size and shape was simulated using the Pennes bioheat equation. Five thousand six hundred and seventy different cryoablation procedures were simulated, using 1-6 cryoablation probes and 1-2 cm spacing between probes. The resulting ice ball was measured along three perpendicular axes and recorded in a database. Simulated ice ball sizes were compared to gel experiments (26 measurements) and clinical cryoablation cases (42 measurements). The clinical cryoablation measurements were obtained from a HIPAA-compliant retrospective review of kidney and liver cryoablation procedures between January 2015 and February 2016. Finally, we created a web-based cryoablation planning tool, which uses the cryoablation simulation database to look up the probe spacing and ablation time that produces the desired ice ball shape and dimensions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Average absolute error between the simulated and experimentally measured ice balls was 1 mm in gel experiments and 4 mm in clinical cryoablation cases. The simulations accurately predicted the degree of synergy in multiple-probe ablations. The cryoablation simulation database covers a wide range of ice ball sizes and shapes up to 9.8 cm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cryoablation simulations accurately predict the ice ball size in multiple-probe ablations. The cryoablation database can be used to plan ablation procedures: given the desired ice ball size and shape, it will find the number and type of probes, probe configuration and spacing, and ablation time required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA. boasf@mskcc.org.
authors.forename: F Edward
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Boas
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Govindarajan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Srimathveeravalli
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Durack
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Elena A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kaye
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Erinjeri
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Etay
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ziv
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maybody
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Hooman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yarmohammadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Solomon
mesh_terms: D003452:Cryosurgery; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007668:Kidney / Q000601:surgery*; D008099:Liver / Q000601:surgery*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Cryoablation; Planning; Prediction; Simulation